ERHS students travel to Costa Rica

Written by: Jessica Allen '13

In the summer of 2012, future AP Biology students and their families will be taking a trip to Costa Rica. ERHS science teachers, Mrs. Julie Brantley and Mrs. Pam Nutt, will be traveling with the students to chaperone their trip and make it a memorable one.

The idea of going on an Education First (EF) educational tour came up last year when Mrs. Brantley while talking to her Advanced Biology class. She was sharing with the class about her trip to Costa Rica with former Spanish teacher, Mrs. Ausel and a group of Spanish students. The students stayed with families living in the area. Mrs. Brantley’s Biology students thought it was a great idea and said, “We should go.” Since then, she has been working with the Education First Company to iron out details, and finally was able to get the trip scheduled. So far, 20 ERHS students, parents, and teachers have signed up for the life-changing experience.

Students will embark on a jam-packed 11-day trip on which they will see cloud forests, look into a volcano, visit hot springs, spend a day on a Biological Reserve, walk through the rain forest and plant a tree in it, visit a local school, go horseback riding, kayaking, and attend cultural events. Many of the students continue to convince Mrs. Brantley and Mrs. Nutt to set up a zip-line excursion.

Parents and family members are welcome to join in the learning experience and fun. They will be able to participate in all of the excursions the students do and will be able to discover new things as their children do. The trip will be a bonding experience for families, students, and teachers.

Mrs. Brantley hopes that students attending this trip will do better in the advance placement (AP) and advanced science courses. They will be expanding the classroom to another country in order to see the diversity in ecosystems and compare Costa Rica’s to our own ecosystem.

Senior AP Biology student Courtney Wood said, “I wish I had the opportunity to go on this trip when I was a freshman or sophomore. I would have gotten a hands-on experience and tangible information that would have been extremely useful for this class.”

Senior AP Bio student Samantha Schaeffer also wishes she got the chance and said, “I would have learned about diversity in species and I would have learned first-hand about environmental issues.”

Diversity, environmental issues, and biological concepts are just what Mrs. Brantley and Mrs. Nutt are hoping the kids will discover on the trip.

Mrs. Brantley wants the students to, “experience a totally different culture, practice their Spanish or at least be exposed to a foreign language, get better prepared for their future science courses, and make memories to last a lifetime!”