In the current climate of closing schools, cutting programs and trimming jobs in education, we must not forget that we can’t sacrifice real-life education in the process.

Learning is more than books. It’s effort and experience.

Students in Livermore Falls, Rumford, Dixfield, Bethel and Peru are taking their class work out of state, hoping to learn a little bit about the world beyond Maine’s borders.

In Livermore Falls, students have been studying the millworkers in their own town, including friends and relatives, and will attempt to draw parallels between their hometown and other mill towns around the world.

Included in that lesson will be a trip to New York City to see Broadway’s “Billy Elliot, The Musical,” a story about a young teen growing up in an economically depressed coal mining town in northern England. The show and its Elton John score have earned critical acclaim in New York, London and Chicago.

On the surface, a field trip to the Big Apple could be considered too grand in such tight times, but aside from whatever lessons may be learned comparing the people and the economics of paper mill towns and coal mining towns, these teens will learn much more simply through travel.

Meanwhile, high school students in Rumford, Dixfield and Bethel have joined together to raise money for a two-week trip to Spain, Italy and France, where they will use the conversational Spanish they’ve learned in class in real-life situations. The journey will challenge students to immerse themselves in the language, the culture, the history and the environment abroad, experiencing — not just reading about — Europe. It’s a lesson in which the real measure of success is through human interaction, not grades.

And in Peru, 17-year-old Dirigo High School student Kirsten Uhde will travel to the country of Peru, where she intends to remain for a year. As an exchange student, she will attend school there, make friends there and learn more about the country than could ever be taught in Peru, Maine.

These young travelers will also learn an important lesson in economics as they raise money for their respective trips. Gone are the days when schools subsidized these trips, so it is up to motivated students to earn travel money — another important lesson in real life.

Thousands of American students embark on field trips every year, pairing travel and academics and learning about subjects that go well beyond anything gleaned from textbooks. Thousands more travel abroad, taking part in cultural exchange programs that offer students a chance to learn through their global experience.

Understanding that we are part of a world community sharing the same planet is an essential lesson for Maine students.

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