At Catlin Gabel every global experience is treated as a diplomatic endeavor, our students acting as ambassadors. The opportunity to travel abroad is a privilege and holds a high level of responsibility.

Students having returned from global trips…

• Are more resilient and adaptable
• Have improved critical thinking skills
• More effectively connect academic class work and real-world application
• Have developed important human and intellectual qualities: respect for difference, communication skills, ability to deal with  academic and personal challenges, self-awareness, and self-understanding
• Have a greater understanding of other cultures and sense of a world community
• Have a greater awareness of the U.S. and its myriad cultures
• Have developed greater independence and personal responsibility
• Are more confident in their decisions
• Have demonstrated, to themselves and others, their willingness to try something new, in and outside of class
• Are more aware of opportunities available to them

U.S. State Department Travel Information by Country

Global Trips in 2009-10    

Nepal: 10–12th graders, March 6–23

Cuba: 10–12th graders, March 15–26

Costa Rica: 8th graders, March 10–23

Martinique: 7th and 8th graders, March 10–23

Costa Rica

March 10-23, 2010 (Middle School Breakaway-Tuesday of spring break)
Trip leaders: Spencer White, Dale Rawls, Lynda Douglas

Eighth graders will travel to Monteverde, Costa Rica, for a trip emphasizing science, art, service, and humanities, with special focus on Spanish language. After extensive preparation, participants spend 12 days with homestay families from the Cloud Forest School community, which has a longstanding relationship with Catlin Gabel. Spencer White, Middle School Spanish teacher, taught 6th grade at the Cloud Forest School in 2006-07.

Eligible students: 8th graders who are currently taking Spanish
Number of students: Min 12 – Max 18
Estimated Cost: $2,100

Cuba

March 15-26, 2010

Trip Leaders:  Roberto Villa, Enrique Escalona, Sue Phillips, Nancy Leonhardt

A group of 32 Catlin Gabel high school students and four teachers will participate in a “people to people” humanitarian and educational trip to Cuba for 11 days, March 15-26, where they will witness history in the making as Cuba begins its transition after the long rule of Fidel Castro.

The main purpose of the trip is humanitarian, with the students and their teachers bringing medical supplies, as well as school and athletic supplies to their Cuban counterparts. The letter they carry from the Cuban Ministry of Education will allow the group to visit schools, hospitals, and organizations that are typically off limits to tourists. During their 11 days in Cuba, the group will meet with Cuban health care officials, teachers, students, cultural leaders, and participate in a round-table discussion at the headquarters of the Youth Communist League.

All 32 student travelers are studying Spanish at Catlin Gabel and will have many opportunities to speak the language. They will experience Cuban society, arts, and culture, and will perform in a Cuban school as ambassadors of our own culture. They will also have a chance to discuss U.S.-Cuban relations with Carlos Alzugaray Treto, a former diplomat who serves as coordinator of international strategic studies at the Center for the Study of the United States (CESEU).

Eligible students:  10-12 grade Spanish students (students are already chosen)
Number of students:  32
Estimated Cost:  $4,300

Martinique

March 10-23, 2010 (Middle School Breakaway-Tuesday of spring break)

Trip leaders: Monique Bessette

The beauty of this trip is that it involves a reciprocal exchange between Catlin Gabel Middle School and the middle school Collège Emmanuel Saldès in Sainte-Marie, Martinique, a French Overseas Department (or DOM in French). Eighth and seventh graders will travel to Martinique in March of 2010 while the Martiniquans will come the following year. The skills required in adapting to living in a home abroad are very different from hosting someone from abroad at home. Both of these extremely valuable skills will be experienced.  Language, culture, and sailing will be the focus of this year’s trip. The first three days will consist of a short initiation to sailing aboard a 125-foot sailboat as we travel north to the islands of Guadeloupe and Dominica. Afterwards, the students will spend a full week with their homestay family in Sainte-Marie and participate in various school, community, and cultural outings.

Eligible students: 7th and 8th grade French students
Number of students: Min 15 – Max 20
Estimated cost: $2,300

Nepal

March 6-23, 2010 (Middle School Breakaway-Tuesday of Spring Break)

Trip leaders: David Ellenberg, Laurie Carolyn-Ward

Eligible students: 10th-12th grade, no language requirement
Number of students: Min 10 – Max 15
Estimated cost: $4,300