On a day like today (in Toronto at least) the snow is falling and you can’t help but think about sunny destinations. And yes, it’s totally cool to have your kids traveling the world for fun in the sun but thankfully, Helium.com recently posted 3 articles talking about reasons why student travel tours are important, not just to have a good time, but for educational purposes. We picked our fave, check it out:
“Student travel tours are extremely important to education. First of all, through travel tours, students are allowed to actually see and experience countries, cities, sites, and landmarks. They go beyond simply reading about, researching, and taking in information from their teachers about these places. Making learning connections is greatly accelerated when students travel to places of distinction.
Books, pictures, words, and even internet resources can only go so far in teaching students about specific places, locations, and past and present events, especially when most students in a class have never actually seen that place or location or will likely ever have the opportunity to visit that place of location. Student travel tours, when arranged through a reputable company or organization, are generally very informative and well-guided. Students are truly given the opportunity to see and experience new places and things that can enhance their learning across the curriculum in many different subject areas through the connections they make from these new experiences to prior, present, and future learning.
Travel tours can be expensive and are difficult for many students to afford, however allocating the money and allowing a student to be a part of one can be the greatest gift that a parent can give their child. What students learn as a part of travel tours is very valuable to them and their present and future learning. These tours may be a once-in-a-lifetime experience for students as well. Student travel tours are well-chaperoned and they are geared toward fun, learning experiences; they are not like reckless spring break trips you hear about college students taking. Chaperones and guides of student travel tours make student safety priority and take it very seriously to make the tour a positive experience for all students. They also work hard to make sure that each and every student gets all he or she can from the tour.
Students who have the opportunity to take a travel tour as a part of their education, have a clear advantage over students who do not. Seeing and experiencing new places and things is priceless, a type of learning that cannot come from books, papers, computers, teachers, or any other medium of education. Travel tours are an integral part of learning and should be arranged for students when possible as they truly enhance education and make learning both exciting and fun.”
Studentkind is always making sure that we have interesting trips to offer. A visit to Ottawa can be a really great field trip! Don’t believe me? How about a three day trip to that lets kids get an inside view of the Supreme Court, National Art Gallery, the Museum of Ciivlization, and the new Canadian War Museum. Throw in a tour of the Parliament of Canada (with a chance to meet a member of Parliament!), some bowling and swimming and you’ve got yourself and incredible extended field trip. http://www.studentkind.com/trip.php?Ottawa-Connection-32
Word on the street is that the Parliament of Canada building is getting ready for the holidays! Check out http://roadstories.ca/ottawa-parliament-buildings/ to see more
We thought this piece would be interesting to share with your art students. Moral Fibers a Canadian company, hopes to provide sustainable incomes for artists in poor communities by commissioning paintings that are adapted and printed on t-shirts.
The ethical fashion label was started by Canadian business students Martin Weiss and Matthew Brightman earlier this year. Their mission is to give artists in developing areas employment opportunities that will help them to develop their creative talent, and enable them to earn a wage almost four times higher than the Haiti national average. Currently only working with artists in Haiti, but with plans to expand to other countries, Moral Fibers commission each artist to produce 12 pieces of art a month, which they buy for USD 10 a piece. If a painting is chosen to be printed on clothing, its creator will also receive 15 percent of the revenue from every t-shirt sold. The t-shirts are produced in Montreal, are available in men’s and women’s sizes, and start from USD 40. The website displays information about the artist responsible for each design, so consumers know exactly who they are helping.
The Moral Fibers business model ensures a constant supply of fresh designs, while guaranteeing each artist a decent salary to support their families. Inspiration here for ethically-minded fashion innovators?
Check out this unbelievable video put together by the BBC.
Human Planet is an awe-inspiring, jaw-dropping, heart-stopping landmark series that marvels at mankind’s incredible relationship with nature in the world today.
Uniquely in the animal kingdom, humans have managed to adapt and thrive in every environment on Earth. Each episode takes you to the extremes of our planet: the arctic, mountains, oceans, jungles, grasslands, deserts, rivers and even the urban jungle. Here you will meet people who survive by building complex, exciting and often mutually beneficial relationships with their animal neighbors and the hostile elements of the natural world.
Human Planet crews have filmed in around 80 locations, bringing you many stories that have never been told on television before. The team has trekked with HD cameras and state of the art gear to film from the air, from the ground and underwater. The result: a “cinematic experience” created by world-class natural history and documentary camera crews and programme makers.
Human Planet is an awe-inspiring, jaw-dropping, heart-stopping landmark series that marvels at mankind’s incredible relationship with nature in the world today.
Uniquely in the animal kingdom, humans have managed to adapt and thrive in every environment on Earth. Each episode takes you to the extremes of our planet: the arctic, mountains, oceans, jungles, grasslands, deserts, rivers and even the urban jungle. Here you will meet people who survive by building complex, exciting and often mutually beneficial relationships with their animal neighbours and the hostile elements of the natural world.
Human Planet crews have filmed in around 80 locations, bringing you many stories that have never been told on television before. The team has trekked with HD cameras and state of the art gear to film from the air, from the ground and underwater. The result: a “cinematic experience” created by world-class natural history and documentary camera crews and programme makers.
Simpa Networks is a venture-backed technology company aiming “to make modern energy simple, affordable, and accessible for everyone,” in the company’s own words. Toward that end, it sells distributed energy solutions on a “progressive purchase” basis; customers make a small initial down payment for a high-quality solar photovoltaic system and then pre-pay for the service, topping up their systems in small user-defined increments using a mobile phone. Powered by the Simpa Regulator — a tamper-proof, system-integrated microcontroller and user interface — and cloud-based software, the system ensures that once prepaid consumption is exhausted, the solar home system is temporarily disabled until another payment is made. Each payment, meanwhile, also counts towards the final purchase price. Once fully paid, the system produces clean energy, free and clear for the rest of the system’s expected 10-year useful life.
Now available for customers in Karnataka, India, Simpa Networks’ model is built upon proprietary risk mitigation technology, with investment opportunities for market rate and social investors, it says. Time to help expand clean energy access around the globe?
Over the summer, we have developed two new trips to Mexico, which apply well to History, Civilization and Spanish classes and students. One trip would allow your group travel to the Yucatan Peninsula and visit various sites related to the rise and fall of the Mayan Civilization. The other trip would place your group in Central Mexico, namely in Mexico City, Oaxaca and Puebla (oldest city in Mexico) to explore the ruins acting as monuments to the domination of the Aztec Civilization. Both trips are affordable and these destinations are very close to North America which means less travel time and more time on the ground! Give us a call today to inquire about either trip or look on our website here to read all about it. Students’ safety is very important to us: these two trips are safe and do not travel to the highest crime areas of Mexico.
Ottawa all included.
Our nation’s capitol is abuzz with school groups come May and June. We recommend to all our current and future clients that if Ottawa is in their school’s travel plans for 2012; your trip should be booked as early as possible to receive first choice at accommodations and activities. Of course we welcome the opportunity to send you a quote at any point this fall, however, the earlier the better! We also organize exciting Winter Trips to Ottawa in January, February and March which include skating on the Rideau Canal, Dog Sledding, and all of Ottawa’s wonderful museums and attractions. So check out Ottawa Winter trips on our site if you’d like to avoid the crowds and enjoy the capitol’s beautiful winter scenery.
Pura Vida in Costa Rica
We have invested much time and effort this summer into Costa Rican operations in order to continue improving our programs there! With our Costa Rican co-lodge partners, we have added significant upgrades to our programming, itineraries and breadth of knowledge in the region. Our Eco-Lodge facilities are not just meant for Outdoor Education classes anymore. Although rustic, they are a perfect destination for Spanish classes as well, which can be attested to the many North American student groups we have brought down in the past few years.
Sustainability
Studentkind strives to continuously improve the way we operate. Since 2009, StudentKind has discontinued the print production of our brochures.
This is just a small step in the right direction. Over the next 5 years we have set a plan to lower our environmental impact by offsetting all of our trips.
The strong Canadian dollar is once again making European travel affordable students. Whether it’s for your language, history or languages class or simply to see the highlights of the continent; we will come up with an itinerary that can’t be beat. In particular, we have signed some great deals with hotels in France, Italy and Spain, which give our groups direct access to some of the most comfortable and friendly hotels throughout Europe. We also work hard to reserve restaurant and food choices, which make mealtime on our Europe trips a pleasure. We usually encourage that our group travel by train on long journeys which helps to save money and cut travel times especially when seeing two countries on one trip. Give Studentkind a buzz the next time you’re planning a Europe trip, we have you covered.
Start planning your 2012 trips and beat the rush!
As the year quickly comes to an end, many of you will go on family trips; head to the cottage and plain old relax! The end of the school year and the summer are the perfect times to start planning your next student trip. Studentkind has a wide variety of new trips for 2012 including some Outdoor Leadership and camping trips for those of you like to travel in the fall. Give us a call today to inquire about any trip you may be looking to plan with your students for 2012!Give us call at 1-888-222-5066.
Testimonials
“I felt I had to send you one more e-mail detailing some of the things that helped make this trip so wonderful for us. Breanne – like I said – was amazing. This is the10th music trip I’ve done and I’ve never felt so comfortable and in such good hands. I will definitely send out the message to all my colleagues that Studentkind is THE tour company to go with. All my students and staff agreed that this trip exceeded their expectations – thanks again for providing us with a truly memorable experience.” Loreen-Lead Teach Lorraine - Florida Music Trip.
Camp
Camp Studentkind is an overnight camp facility located in beautiful Bancroft Ontario. Throughout the spring and fall, Studentkind welcomes school groups to our overnight camp for a variety of multiple-day curriculum infused programs. Our school programs are custom designed for any length of stay for elementary to post-secondary aged groups. From intensive Visual Art based programs, to Outdoor Leadership, to Music camps and beyond, Camp Studentkind has the facilities in place to host any size group for multiple purposes.
Personal Trips
For many of us the summer is our favorite time of the year to travel. Summer means school is out, reports are done and its time for family and friends. If you are looking to travel anywhere special this summer please be sure to let us know. We would be happy to give you free advice and even help you out with some special deals we have with many of our suppliers around the globe. Have a great summer!
You planning on traveling to Italy this summer with Studentkind? or Alone? Read below:
If consumers can book and pay for taxi service using just their mobile phones — Vodafone’s branded cabs in London being a perfect example — then why not public transportation as well? That, indeed, is the premise behind a new service launched earlier this year by Italian transport firm ATAF, which now lets riders on its Florence bus service get their tickets by text message.
Through a partnership with mobile payments firm Bemoov, ATAF — short for Azienda Trasporti Area Fiorentina — now gives riders on its Florence city buses a way to buy their tickets via SMS. Users of the service simply register with Bemoov to link a credit card with their phone and then send a text message with the text “ATAF” to a designated number when they’re ready to travel. Within seconds, they receive a reply message with an alphanumeric code to be submitted to the controller for verification. There’s no additional fee for using the service. Currently, only one-way tickets are sold this way; the price is EUR 1.20 for a 90-minute trip.
Stockholm and Helsinki have already embraced similar capabilities, according to Bemoov, and more will undoubtedly soon follow. Public transport commissions around the globe: how about you?
As we all must admit, our students often know more about technology than we do! But these tech-savvy kids are becoming desensitized to traditional methods of education. It’s time to bring out the big guns: theatre and fine arts! It’s always interesting to integrate drama into the classroom through character sketches and historical re-enactments, or even improv-based learning in a social science or humanities context.
Immagination is the key to real student involvement and education! A new French company is putting that principle into practice with its art history lessons for kids, which involve putting on costumes and bringing the past to life. Archimuse offers modules focusing on Renoir, Vermeer, Klimt and more for kids aged 5 to 11 years old. In addition to working from specialized books, lessons emphasize the historical context of each artist and the pertinent culture at the time. Frequently incorporated along the way are musical plays and tableaux in which children can dress up and play the part of key figures in the artist’s life.
Programs like this are all over Canada too! There are tons of opportunities to incorporate drama, music, visual art, etc into your classroom. Try a new lesson plan today!
StudentKind specializes in overnight educational field trips and tours for school groups. StudentKind (SK) offers customized trips and tours for teachers and students to locations across Canada, The United States, Europe, South and Central America.
StudentKind is the educational tour product of Evolve Tours- Teen Travel Camp.
This means that when you travel with Studentkind, you are traveling with a
company who programs trips and tours year-round exclusively for students,
teenagers, and their teachers. Some of the destinations in North America that
we travel to include Quebec, Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto, Halifax, Washington,
Chicago, Boston and New York. Some of the destinations abroad that we travel
to include Italy, France, the United Kingdom, Greece, Costa Rica, Chile,
Ecuador, Peru and Israel.
