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Years ago, an Alabama high school teacher led a student travel program for her students. When she left the school, the trip ended and several teachers struggled to reorganize a program. That is, until Program Leader Michaela Young introduced a new idea: a WorldStrides DiscoverNow! Costa Rica program. Young followed each step of our Recipe for Success – personally inviting all of the students (from not one, but four grade levels!), showing the short student video, and hosting a successful parent meeting. After all these years, she’s excited to say that she will be leading the school’s first science trip to Costa Rica in spring 2014.

Those who know Young are not surprised that she was able to make this opportunity possible for her students; she has always been passionate about education. She attended graduate school and became a research assistant in the science field for many years before she decided to become a teacher. “I couldn’t get it out of my mind,” Young explained. “Teaching is a calling. It’ll just keep bugging you until you do it.” Now that’s she’s been teaching for 15 years, she wouldn’t change it for anything in the world.

Young is so dedicated to finding new ways for students to enjoy learning as much as she does that she has started several science-focused programs at her school, including a science fair, robotics team, and HAM radio team. Only 15 students participated in her first science fair five years ago, but now more than 400 students participate! Twenty-seven students went to the regional science competition and two students went to the state competition just this past year. Young goes above and beyond to make each science program successful so that each student has an opportunity to connect with science in the way that works for them.

“I have no doubt that this Costa Rica program is building a great foundation for the students at my school,” Young said. “I already have students from younger grades telling me that their parents are financially planning for this program. I can’t wait to see how many students participate five years from now.”

On this trip, students will explore cloud forests and rainforests, hike along an active volcano, and more. Her students are looking forward to ziplining, white water rafting, and apparently, swimming in the hotel pool. Young is enthusiastic about traveling, seeing the world, and witnessing how the trip impacts her students. In fact, she’s most excited about giving one special traveler, her son, the opportunity to take his first plane ride.

“A few days before your team called me, I received a postcard in the mail that promoted a trip to Costa Rica with my students. I kept thinking about calling, but never did,” Young explained. “I’m so glad WorldStrides called me or I may not have traveled!”

Are you just starting a WorldStrides DiscoverNow! program in your school? We’d love to hear your story below!

Bikers and history. It’s not a combination you often see, but Program Leader Scott Bishop and his students are avid fans of a TV show that combines the two. Each episode of the weekly TV show on BYU TV called “American Ride” features host Stan Ellsworth exploring a site or event of U.S. historical significance from the seat of his motorcycle. “His show is amazing,” said Bishop. “Here is this big guy riding a Harley all over the country and telling you all sorts of really interesting additions to the history you already know.”

For the past two years, Bishop has been thrilled that Ellsworth has been able to come to his school and talk with the students about the topics they are studying at the time. “He doesn’t look like a typical history teacher. The kids really listen to him and he helps bring history alive for them,” Bishop explains.

During Ellsworth’s most recent trip to Bishop’s school, he engaged the students with a dynamic presentation on the American Revolution. He had the students recite the Pledge of Allegiance, and highlighted the depth of sacrifice that soldiers have made for our freedom, emphasizing how those rights come with a responsibility. He concluded by challenging the students to make a difference in the world around them.

“My students and their parents were delighted to have Ellsworth visit our school,” said Bishop. “One student even wrote a thank you note to Ellsworth saying, ‘Thanks for tricking us into liking history.’”

Bishop says that having Ellsworth visit his classroom ties in perfectly with his annual WorldStrides trip to Washington, D.C. After hearing the TV host’s presentation, the students were even more excited to go on their trip, because it is another experience that makes history real for them.

“I like history to be more than a class, I like it to be part of their life,” said Bishop. “Stan Ellsworth and our WorldStrides trip both bring history to life for these kids. They get to see and experience history firsthand.”

Bishop says he often has students tell him that their time in Washington, D.C., was the “best week of their life.” It’s those types of comments that remind him he is doing exactly what he should: helping students develop a love for the history of our country. “I love it when students tell me that their favorite class is history. I feel like it is my job to make kids love history, not hate it, so that’s why I do what I do,” said Bishop.

Do you have a unique way of bringing the classroom to life for your students? We’d love to hear about it!

Florida is a popular destination for many WorldStrides travelers, and this year marks an especially exciting time for the Sunshine State – the 500^th anniversary of Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León’s arrival in Florida.

In 1513, Ponce de León and a crew of at least 200 men set out from Puerto Rico to explore the Atlantic Ocean. Approximately one month into their trip, they spotted an unknown “island” that they just had to explore. The crew traveled around the “island,” took in its undeniably beautiful landscape, and then claimed it as a Spanish territory. Ponce de León named it “La Florida,” meaning “Flowering Easter,” since it was the season for Spain’s “Feast of the Flowers” Easter celebration and much of Florida’s vegetation was in bloom. To this day, it is still debated exactly where the ships landed – some say St. Augustine; others say they landed further south near Melbourne Beach – but regardless, one of the most prominent peninsulas of North America had been discovered!

The state of Florida will host a number of events throughout the year to celebrate this unique milestone, including music festivals, arts and crafts shows, history exhibits, and costume contests. There is even a chance to view full-scale replicas of the expedition ships that Ponce de León was aboard.

Florida is the only state in America to celebrate such a large anniversary. Even though Jamestown, Virginia, was the first established colony in America, the colony wasn’t settled until the early 1600s.

Varied ecosystems, a wealth of flora and fauna, and sunshine attracts WorldStrides travelers to Florida each year. With such a huge anniversary this year, it is sure to be a memorable adventure!

If you were turning 500, how would you celebrate? Tell us about it below!

Weights and measurements historically vary from place to place, region to region, and culture to culture. During the late 18^th century, it became clear that the system needed to be standardized to ease trade among nations. On May 20, 1875, the first Diplomatic Treaty of the Metre was signed by seventeen countries. Since then, May 20^th has officially been recognized as International Metrology Day.

According to the document, the international system of units, or the metric system, is based off of six units. They are: the second (time), metre (length), Kelvin (temperature), kilogram (mass), ampere (electric current), candela (luminous intensity), and the mole (amount of substance). Today, all countries use the metric system to some extent except the United States, Myanmar, and Liberia.

A recent brush with Hollywood has left veteran WorldStrides Program Leader Chris Voutsas and his students surprised and moved. When Voutsas asked his students to write letters to well-known movie director and producer Steven Spielberg, he had no expectations of receiving a heartfelt response – or a generous donation.

Earlier in the year, Voutsas took a group of 7^th graders to see the movie Lincoln, an historical account of the life of our 16^th president, Abraham Lincoln, and the pivotal era in which he lived. Voutsas said the movie “fit perfectly” with what he was teaching his students and, as a means of encouraging reflection on the film, Voutsas tasked each of them with writing a letter to Spielberg, detailing their impressions of Lincoln. To all of their surprise, Spielberg personally responded to the students and thanked them for their letters. He also recalled his own awe-inspiring experience of witnessing the statue of Lincoln at the Lincoln Memorial and sent a personal check for $1,500 to cover the expense of the movie.

“Each student expressed moving reactions to the movie and Spielberg’s portrayal of Lincoln, but they were all in complete disbelief that they actually received a response!” Voutsas recalled. “In Spielberg’s letter, it was obvious how touched he was by the depth of each student’s reaction, and the students were just amazed that someone would take the time to personally show their appreciation.”

But Voutsas wasn’t content to simply credit the students for the cost of the movie.

Instead, “in the spirit that Spielberg wrote the letter, it seemed only fitting to turn the donation into a scholarship for our D.C. trip,” Voutsas explained. And, with that, a 2014 WorldStrides scholarship was born! Knowing the immeasurable value in offering his students the opportunity to travel to an historic place like Washington, D.C., Voutsas decided that the scholarship would be awarded to select students based on both essay submissions and financial needs.

“It’s hard to know how these experiences affect students but, in some way, each of them is impacted.” And for that, we have both Spielberg and Voutsas to thank.