The AHA World Language department is going abroad! Spanish levels 2-5 will be taking a trip to Costa Rica, while German and French levels 2-4 will be headed to multiple European countries. 

The Spanish department, in collaboration with the science department, will travel to Pura Vida, Costa Rica over spring break 2023. The group will focus on conservation projects and putting their Spanish skills to use. Along with an academic aspect, students will explore new experiences with ziplining through the rainforest, going on alligator safaris, visiting hot springs, a coffee plantation, and more. The group will spend nine days exploring coastal Costa Rica. The biology head of this trip, Elizabeth Moravec, says, “I’m excited to get the kids out of the classroom and see that there’s ways to apply science to the world outside of school in different ways.” Junior Josh George says he is excited to go to Costa Rica to experience a new culture and bond with students and staff. Junior Kiah Atiq expresses her gratitude for this opportunity to go out of the country for the first time and learn about different cultures.

The German and French departments will be traveling to Paris, France; Lucerne, Switzerland; Munich, Germany; and Vienna, Austria in June of 2024. They will be visiting the Palace of Versailles, the Neuschwanstein Castle, a concentration camp memorial in Dachau, and many other historical city highlights. In all countries, students will be able to practice their German and French speaking, reading and writing skills to communicate within their surroundings. This trip will last 11 days in mid to late June. Seeing as this trip is far into the future, it is a good time for underclassmen to look into this opportunity and be ready to advise incoming students to participate when the time comes. The head German teacher of the trip, Erin El Amatoury, offers insight on specifics of the trip, “Students must be in levels 2-4 in French or German and cannot be freshman or seniors during the year we travel. We’ll see many main highlights in each city!”