Following the Equator | EF's Educational Travel Blog

Group Leader Spotlight: Jen Petrin

After changing careers from the corporate world, Jen Petrin has been teaching art and art history for eight years at Old Mill High School in Millersville, Maryland. She teaches Foundations of Art, IB Art 11 and AP Art History to students in grades nine to 12. Jen has traveled on five EF tours and will travel on Bell' Italia next month and the Kenya Safari convention this summer. Here, she shares her EF experiences.



What inspired you to take an EF tour?

I was inspired to take an EF tour because I wanted to show my art history students Greek, Roman, Renaissance and Baroque landmarks in person. I wanted them to feel how beautiful and awe inspiring art is in person; I hoped they’d catch the bug.



You recently presented at Paris O. What advice do you have for new group leaders?
I encourage new group leaders to plan ahead and think of every detail before you go. Start recruiting for a tour 18 months out. Attend an orientation or talk to an experienced group leader via email. Pack half or what you think you’ll need!
 


How do you encourage students to sign up for your tour?
Dealing with recruitment is a challenge in my district, but good news has a way of traveling. I plant a seed with the right students and then they come to me.



Do you use any types of social media (ex. Facebook, Twitter) to promote your tour?

I promote on Facebook, and I have the kids that are signed up promote to their friends to widen the communication beyond my own students. Good kids tend to be friends with students who value the same experiences.



Do you do any fundraising for your tour? If so, what kind of fundraisers have you held?

I have done every type of fundraiser in the past but this has become more complicated in recent years. Chipin.com is a great way for relatives and family friends to help the kids save money. I usually plan a trip more than 18 months out, so I encourage all of my students to utilize EF’s monthly payment plan. Since I teach high school most students get a summer job to help pay for the trip as well.



Follow Paris O on Twitter

Paris Orientation—EF's free training seminar for new EF Group Leaders—is always an eye-opening experience. It's the best way for teachers to learn about educational travel and about EF, plus everyone gets to see the sights in the City of Light.

I'm fortunate to be joining a large group of new group leaders at our Paris Orientation this weekend. We'll be visiting the Louvre, Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower and lots of other great sights and neighborhoods during a full weekend of exploring.

You can follow along on Twitter, as I'll be posting updates from Paris Orientation on the official EF Tours account: @EFtours.

If you're already on Twitter, be sure to follow @EFtours. If you're new to Twitter, check out this video explanation of Twitter in Plain English.

For more about Paris Orientation, check out the official Paris Orientation site on eftours.com.

Group Leader Spotlight: Chris Seymore

After practicing law in Philadelphia for three years, Chris Seymore decided to change careers and become a teacher. Eight years later he says, “Without question I made the right decision. I look forward to coming to work every day.  I’m a million times happier as a teacher than I ever was as a lawyer.” Today, Seymore teaches World Cultures/Global Studies and Constitutional Law at Ridley High School, outside of Philadelphia. Since 2006, he has traveled on eight EF tours, and in 2009, he visited 14 countries. Here he tells us about his travel experiences.

What inspired you to begin traveling abroad with students?
My only international travel prior to 2006 was when I visited Toronto during my sophomore year in high school. As a world cultures teacher, I decided it was time to experience other cultures with my students  and do some teaching and learning outside the traditional classroom environment. Not in my wildest dreams did I imagine what the next three years would bring! In the last three years, I have been to Europe 11 times (eight tours, one Paris Orientation, one Rome Orientation and one personal visit to Italy on my own). I also visited Jordan and Egypt in 2009 as part of an EF Teacher Convention Tour. In 2010, I will travel on three EF tours: Discover Costa Rica, European Horizons and a customized tour of Paris, Switzerland, Italy, Greece and the Greek Islands. The impact on me has been tremendous, and the experiences we have had through EF have been life-changing for so many of my students.

Group Leader Spotlight: Carolyn Sanders

With 15 EF tours and nine convention tours under her belt, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Carolyn Sanders, a physical education teacher at Bill Reed Middle School in Loveland, Colorado, has visited 40 countries with EF.

Besides traveling to every continent (yes, she used her EF Global Points to take a trip to Antarctica!), she’s also met some of her closest friends through EF.

In the Group Leader Spotlight, Carolyn recaps some of her favorite travel adventures and talks about how she and some other EF Group Leaders once created their own EF convention to Thunder Bay, Canada.

Photo of the Week: Young vs. old

This photo makes me smile every time I see it—a little girl kicking the ball to an elderly gentleman with a cane.

I took this photo last February during EF's Paris Orientation. Our tour director, Nathalie, took our group of teachers on a walking tour through Paris' historic Les Halles section. It was a gorgeous day (albeit a bit chilly), and Parisians were strolling all about. We didn't stick around long enough to check out Gramps' reflexes, but I think the kid could run circles around him.

This photo is part of the EF Tours group on Flickr. If you have any interesting travel photos, please submit them to the EF pool. We select a new Photo of the Week every Thursday.

Photo: Following the Equator via Flickr (CC license)

Our 10 Best of 2008

This is the 320th post of 2008 at Following the Equator, and we decided to commemorate our blog's first full calendar year with a top-10 list of favorite posts.

We had a lot of stories, videos, photos, interviews, tips and perspectives about educational travel. We launched some regular weekly features, including our Tip of the Week and Photo of the Week. We debuted Life on Tour, introduced EF on YouTube and EF on Facebook and promoted the EF Tours group on Flickr (above). And, along the way, we encountered a lot of inspiring travelers.

Following the Equator also was nominated for a Blogger's Choice Award and finished fifth out of 1,177 blogs for Best Travel Blog. Thank you to everyone who supported our blog in 2008 by voting, reading, sharing, commenting and subscribing. We're looking forward to an even more successful 2009.

Group Leader Spotlight: Mike O'Neal

Mike O’Neal, a seventh- and eighth-grade social studies teacher from Kirkland, Washington, never wanted to be the type of person who one day would reflect upon his life and say, “Coulda, shoulda.”

When it comes to traveling, he certainly has accomplished that goal. Mike has taken more than a dozen EF tours and traveled on five Teacher Convention Tours. From Kenya to Russia to the Galápagos Islands, Mike has explored six continents with EF!

Mike (pictured above at a Turkish market) took a few minutes to talk about how travel impacts his students, planning and recruiting his tours and watching the pelicans and sharks in the Galápagos:

Group Leader Spotlight: Greg Holmes

"How big is your fishbowl?"

Greg Holmes poses that question to his students with a poster that hangs in his classroom at Granite Bay High School in Granite Bay, California. His classroom also contains a Postcard Wall with postcards from every continent, including Antarctica.

A calculus teacher, Greg not only makes his students ponder their place in the world, but he's also been expanding their fishbowls for years as an EF Group Leader. Greg takes huge groups of seniors to Europe every year with EF.

But Greg hasn't stopped with his students. He's been expanding his own fishbowl, as well, on EF's Teacher Convention Tours. This past summer, he attended the African Safari in Botswana, and he's going to Ancient Jordan and Egypt next year.

We had a chance to catch up with Greg before he left for Botswana. Here's our full interview:

Preschooler in Paris

I've finally pored through hundreds of photos from my week in Paris with my wife and daughter following EF's Paris Orientation. It was great reliving all of the amazing moments from an amazing week.

The first thing that everyone asks me: How did your daughter like Paris? Well, she she absolutely loved it—and not just because of Disneyland Paris!

She turns 5 in a couple of months, and we had always hoped to take her abroad before kindergarten. Looking back at the week and hearing people's reactions, I actually think that taking a preschooler to Paris was one of the greatest things we've ever done.

Back from Paris

Following the Equator is back in the States after an extended stay in Paris.

We had a hugely successful Paris Orientation, showing a bunch more first-time EF Group Leaders what an EF tour is like and showing them the wondrous City of Light. It's always so great to see teachers eyes light up. Personally, it's also great to renew acquaintances (and make new ones) with some of our experienced group leaders in Paris.

Following Paris Orientation, I was able to spend time in Paris with my wife and young daughter, which was an amazingly rewarding experience. I'll be writing more about Paris in the coming days.

Paris O Postcard: Lunch at Versailles

Lunch at Versailles, originally uploaded by following.equator.

Full roasted chicken, a buffet of cheeses, a fresh baguette, strawberries, string beans ... all served on a city bench in the center of the town of Versailles.

What started as an impromptu lunch idea last year during an excursion to the palace of Versailles may now be a full-fledged tradition after some EF staff members repeated the feat this afternoon during Paris Orientation.

Last February, EF Group Leader Greg Holmes and I roamed the open-air Sunday market in Versailles searching for lunch. We were forced to get creative, buying a full chicken, cheese, bread and fruit. We even bought real, metal forks. Then we found a bench on a quiet side street and spread out our feast. This clearly was not a common sight, as the Versailles passers-by either smiled, nodded or grimaced. Several even offered us a "bon appetit!" It was a great moment that Greg and I recall often. We both even saved our forks as souvenirs.

So, today, when our group of first-time group leaders made the way to the open-air market, I told the story to my colleagues -- Erin Bennion, Joe Burkett and Diana Tavares. We decided to give it a try. We bought our supplies (including forks and knives) and settled in on the bench. Not only was it a delicious feast, but it also was another memorable experience. We also toasted Greg for the inaugural Versailles lunch.

Greg even emailed me Saturday night, asking when we were headed back to Versailles. Greg, you'll be happy to know, I'm adding my new fork to the Versailles collection.

The EF Paris Orientation concluded today after a busy day of sightseeing and a wonderal Moroccan Farewell Dinner. Special thanks to all of the first-time participants for another successful Paris Orientation.

Paris O Postcard: City of Light

Eiffel Tower, originally uploaded by following.equator.

The view from the top of the Eiffel Tower on a windy night in February is breathtaking -- figuratively and literally.

Breathtaking, that is, at least to one big group of EF Group Leaders who braved the chilly temps and blustery winds tonight for the spectacular sights from the highest point in Paris. It was definitely a memorable moment on the second day of our Paris Orientation for first-time EF Group Leaders.

Following a jam-packed, productive morning and early afternoon of meetings designed to give group leaders a ton of information, helpful hints and especially secrets from a pair of experienced pros, the group hit the town. Many people followed our tour director, Nathalie, for an impromptu walking tour of Les Halles, a particularly Parisian neighborhood packed with people -- but few tourists. It was a wonderful opportunity to glimpse real Parisians bustling by on a beautifully sunny Saturday.

Everybody got the chance to go their own way for dinner before most of the group met up near the Eiffel Tower. First, there was the windy visit to the top of the iconic monument. (For the record, I skipped the trip to the top for the second year in a row. My 4-year-old daughter arrives in Paris on Monday with my wife, and I promised I'd make my first trip to the top with her.)

Then, after the group caught its breath back on ground level, everyone enjoyed a leisurely (and fortunately heated) boat tour of the Seine.

Once the sun goes goes down and the lights come up, it's not hard to see where Paris gets its descriptive moniker: the City of Light. But, by far, the most impressive display is the hourly light show on the Eiffel Tower, illuminating not only the picturesque structure but also the buildings and sites around it.

Tomorrow ought to be equally illuminating for the first-time group leaders with a guided sightseeing tour around Paris and an excursion to Louis XIV's palace at Versailles.