Earlier this month, a group of 25 St. John’s students, teachers and parents spent a week exploring Costa Rica. For the past nine years, St. John’s Middle School science teacher Elizabeth Klammer has led family trips during the summer. In recent years, Spanish teacher Euclides Jasso has co-led the trips, which are organized by Education First Tours.

Offered to St. John’s Middle School students and their parents, these experiences teach students about other cultures. From practicing their Spanish and trying new foods to visiting Costa Rican schools and playing soccer with local children, the travelers expand their worldview by glimpsing life in another country.

“The world is becoming smaller and we need to give our students a global experience in order to fully prepare them for the future,” Klammer said.

“I enjoy taking science out of the classroom and into the world.”

And in a place as beautiful as Costa Rica, there is much fun to be had while learning. Activities during the trip included a boat ride and kayaking, swimming under a waterfall, walking among sea turtles, relaxing in the hot springs pools of an active volcano, and zipping through a rainforest canopy during a two-hour “zip-line” tour. Zip lining allowed participants to choose whether they preferred viewing Costa Rica’s diverse ecological system from the lush ground or from the tops of trees. Or perhaps admiring the scenery was best from a whitewater rafting excursion on the rapids of the Sarapiqui River.

This was the third time in nine years that Klammer led St. John’s students to Costa Rica. Other destinations have included France, Italy and Spain. Next year, St. John’s travelers will find themselves in Belize, snorkeling off the Ambergris Caye and exploring Mayan ruins, among other adventures