Every year, the National PTA celebrates Teacher Appreciation week—spending a whole week celebrating the many, many ways teachers affect our lives. May 8th kicks off Teacher Appreciation Week 2017, and here at Explorica, this is our favorite week of the year (except for, maybe, our annual staff trips)!
For nearly 20 years, we have been able to work one-on-one with teachers to create incredible educational tours that meet each individual’s specific needs and budgets. Explorica is committed to enriching students through educational travel, and that means helping teachers extend the opportunity to as many students as possible. In fact, as a WorldStrides organization we help more than 400,000 teachers and students travel the world every year!
Richard Beekman, Executive Vice President, has been with Explorica since the beginning. He has always admired the teachers we work with, and has been lucky enough to meet so many of them!
“For 17 years I have had the privilege to work both directly and indirectly with tens of thousands of teachers and their colleagues who have partnered with Explorica for their educational tours. This week we thank all teachers, and especially those who spend countless hours to plan and prepare life changing trips and then take up precious vacation time to open the world to their students. I hope that my children are lucky enough to have teachers in their lives like you.”—Rich Beekman
Our staff is filled with dedicated, passionate people who are truly here to help teachers. For Teacher Appreciation Week, we asked our staff to share a few memories of teachers they had in school, or teachers they’ve worked with.
“What I loved most about my Spanish teacher Señora Swenson was that she had such an amazing upbeat personality. She was always so passionate about the Spanish language and Spanish cultures. Her classroom was always so bright and lively with all colors of the rainbow. Pictures from Spanish speaking countries all around the world. This made learning that much more fun. She also was able to show the world to her students by taking them abroad, which totally changed their lives for good. I will never forget what she has done for me and she has truly helped me become that much closer to becoming a fluent Spanish speaker.” —Bryan Oullette
“It’s really touching to see how hard some of my group leaders work to organize fundraising and community sponsorships for their travel programs and specific students, who otherwise wouldn’t be able to take part. It truly is a labor of love for them, to be able to afford their students the opportunity for such a transformative experience. Travel is definitely an investment, but the return on it is truly unmatched in the personal growth our teachers report seeing in their kids!” —Sheila Moynihan
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