Feliz Año Nuevo from Rustic Pathways!

Happy 2019! Each year we partner with more schools to build their Winterims, Service Weeks, or integrate with their Project-Based Learning sessions, and driving us to learn new ways that students to connect with their world. Let us know what’s happening in your world—we’d love to share it with our community!

Global Themes for the Classroom

One of the best pieces of travel advice I’ve been given was by an anthropologist turned tour guide who, upon our arrival to a rural Mayan community, said: I promise that after this tour, you will know less about this community than you do right now.

He was hitting the point that we all learn as travelers, that by travel you learn about things and places that you never knew existed, and it will open your mind to questions and connections that you had never previously considered.

This concept came up again when a colleague (hey, Sofia!) sent me a link to an article about a community in Samana in the Dominican Republic (and a paired learning guide), and led to a series of parallel articles about the community’s history. For someone who lives and works in the DR, it was a reminder of the diversity and beauty of the country, and how interconnected we and our histories are with global themes and movements that we teach in the classroom.

This year, I’m inspired to dig deeper into the stories of families and communities to make global connections, and ensure our young people are making those connections too. It is going to be a great one, and I can’t wait to see where we end up.

Happy Adventuring!

Lauren DeAngelis Alvarez
Director of School Partnerships