JAY – Five high school students and their Spanish teacher will have a working vacation in the country of Mexico in April.
Instead of resting from schoolwork and basking in spring weather, teacher Paula Swenson and her students will go to school at least 20 hours during spring vacation.
They plan to climb pyramids, speak Spanish, shop for Spanish treasures and take a step back in time.
They’ll also live with Mexican families and abide by the family’s rules and curfew of 10 p.m., Swenson said Friday.
The Jay School Committee approved $2,500 from the academic reserve to help support the students’ trip to Cuernavaca, Superintendent Robert Wall said Friday.
The trip will cost $1,143 per student, Swenson said.
Students are going to hold some tag days to collect donations and have been collecting bottles to help defray the cost.
They plan to fly into Mexico City and take a bus to Cuernavaca and be placed in homes.
They will be tested to determine what level of Spanish they speak and understand and will attend Cemanahuac school.
“I’ll be tested, too,” their teacher said.
Classes have no more than five students, and there is one-on-one instruction with a native speaker, certified in teaching.
The group will attend school four or five hours a day and go on field trips in the afternoon.
One trip will be to climb the Pyramids of the Sun and Moon outside of Mexico City in Teotihuacan. Another trip will be to a market place in Tepoztlan to shop for silver and hand-carved items.
“I’m expecting them to speak Spanish as much as possible,” Swenson said.
They’ll also visit Buena Vista de Cuellar, which Swenson has been told is like stepping back in time.
The school they plan to attend is highly acclaimed, she said, and students from the University of Maine at Farmington take trips there.
“It’s a lesson in culture and also reinforces their Spanish,” Swenson said.
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