Spanish teachers Lauren Hamberg and Penney Johnson have been planning a trip to Spain in the year 2020 since winter of 2018.

“Mrs. Johnson has been wanting to do a trip for a long time,” Hamberg said. “We figured Spain would be a good option for students because its safe, but also gets a lot of good culture.”

Both teachers hope students who go on the trip will learn to appreciate other cultures while being emerged in them along with the history of the country.

“It is a completely different environment when you are in a place where you are the oddball out and everyone around you speaks a language that you don’t understand,” Hamberg said. “I think it is incredibly humbling.”

The way our society is headed right now, by 2040, the United States will be the largest Spanish speaking country in the world.

“I think that especially going to Spain and experiencing other cultures will be huge for our students,” Hamberg said. “They will understand what it is like to think, to speak more than one language and that is our future.”

The groups destinations include Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia and Catalunya. There will be meetings with professional chefs to learn how to cook authentic food, daily tours of the cities, visits to Roman ruins and mini safaris. Students can still sign up for this upcoming trip at the meeting on November 14. You can get more information by talking to Mrs. Johnson or Mrs. Hamberg.

“Our idea is to get students out of the same situation, in the same bubble, that they have been living in more of a safe way,” Hamberg said. “I think that teaching students empathy at such a young age is so beneficial and this is our way of doing so.”