Letter: Trip was pure education

While all the attention in the Pine Knot News about being stranded in Miami was fun for our young travelers, I just want to clarify that the trip to Costa Rica was part of a class for educational credit.

The itinerary of the trip is very robust and educational. The students are with local Spanish teachers, other chaperones, and a local Costa Rican guide (expert in the history, culture and flora and fauna of Costa Rica) all the time. Because the students are in class all day with teachers (we make the world our classroom), the students on this trip receive high school credit. The students on these Spanish trips are immersed in a learning environment, overseen by teachers the entire trip. Students can also receive college credit upon completion of this trip.

I felt the need to write this so that the community knows that this is a very intentional trip planned by the Spanish department at Cloquet, not just a spring break trip where students are there to just hang out.

This was originally a 2020 trip, but delayed by the pandemic. Prior to this trip in 2020, I had class with the students for a semester during my lunch so they could learn even more about Costa Rica before we arrived.

We have lots of fun on these trips, but it is important that all know that education is at the forefront of these trips and the students are supervised and learning from CHS teachers and local Costa Rican experts each and every day, all day long.

Lisa South, Cloquet High School Spanish teacher