Great Path Academy's Spain Trip
Donation protected
My name is Kimberly Ruoff and I am a Spanish Teacher at Great Path Academy Middle College High School in Manchester, Connecticut, part of Hartford Public School District.
Three years ago I was a junior in college when I spent a semester abroad in Seville, Spain. This experience opened my eyes to Spanish culture and allowed my study of Spanish language to reach new heights. As you may know from personal experience, learning a language in the classroom only gets you so far. It is my belief that only through real-world practice and total immersion that proficiency and eventually fluency in a language can be achieved.
Therefore, I write to raise funds for my own students who will have the opportunity to attend a trip to Madrid, Sevilla and Cordoba this May 2013. The trip is through EF Tours and is open to Spanish III and IV students. The cost of the trip will be around 3,000 dollars per student. Although we are planning several fundraisers at the school level and the payments may be made in installments, this cost is very prohibitive for many of my students. It is my hope that through this GoFundMe platform I can raise enough funds (with your help!) to send at least two deserving students on this trip who would otherwise be unable to attend.
Despite the cost, this is a momentous opportunity for these students. They will experience culture through art, food, music, dance and architecture firsthand. There is no doubt that these students, if able to attend, will be forever altered. This opportunity could change the trajectory of each of these student's lives as many of them have never left the country or in some cases, the city of Hartford. My hope is that this experience will bring them outside of their city and into a new culture and learning environment.
What is Great Path Academy/ Hartford, Connecticut?
The mission of Great Path Academy at Manchester Community College is to provide an innovative learning environment that supports students from diverse backgrounds in developing the values, self-discipline, work habits, academic and life skills needed to achieve success. Students at Great Path Academy are fully immersed into the college community and are encouraged to accelerate their post-secondary studies by supplementing their high school program with college coursework.
About the Curriculum
Great Path Academy at Manchester Community College is a middle college, inter-district high magnet school for students in grades nine through twelve. The school operates under the auspices of the Board of Regents for Higher Education and is managed by the Hartford Public Schools. Students are selected to enroll in our school through a blind lottery through the Regional School Choice Office. Our students come to us from numerous towns across the Hartford Country including, but not limited to: Hartford, Manchester, East Hartford, Bloomfield, South Windsor, Vernon, Coventry and New Britain.
I was placed in the district of Hartford by Teach for America in August of 2012. TFA is an organization that places passionate teachers in underserved, high-poverty communities. Hartford is one of these communities. Thus, the importance of this opportunity for these students is invaluable. After working here for the past year I have seen how high poverty and associated circumstances can often create barriers to opportunity. More importantly though, I have witnessed students and teachers break down these barriers to achievement. It is my hope that this experience in Spain will empower my students to use Spanish outside of the classroom and make the hard work they have been doing in Spanish class come alive. They are amazing and deserve nothing less than this incredible experience.
Without your help, this trip will not become reality. This opportunity is potentially life-changing and you could play a role in making it happen!
Contact [email redacted] with any questions/comments! And of course, don't forget to donate!
Three years ago I was a junior in college when I spent a semester abroad in Seville, Spain. This experience opened my eyes to Spanish culture and allowed my study of Spanish language to reach new heights. As you may know from personal experience, learning a language in the classroom only gets you so far. It is my belief that only through real-world practice and total immersion that proficiency and eventually fluency in a language can be achieved.
Therefore, I write to raise funds for my own students who will have the opportunity to attend a trip to Madrid, Sevilla and Cordoba this May 2013. The trip is through EF Tours and is open to Spanish III and IV students. The cost of the trip will be around 3,000 dollars per student. Although we are planning several fundraisers at the school level and the payments may be made in installments, this cost is very prohibitive for many of my students. It is my hope that through this GoFundMe platform I can raise enough funds (with your help!) to send at least two deserving students on this trip who would otherwise be unable to attend.
Despite the cost, this is a momentous opportunity for these students. They will experience culture through art, food, music, dance and architecture firsthand. There is no doubt that these students, if able to attend, will be forever altered. This opportunity could change the trajectory of each of these student's lives as many of them have never left the country or in some cases, the city of Hartford. My hope is that this experience will bring them outside of their city and into a new culture and learning environment.
What is Great Path Academy/ Hartford, Connecticut?
The mission of Great Path Academy at Manchester Community College is to provide an innovative learning environment that supports students from diverse backgrounds in developing the values, self-discipline, work habits, academic and life skills needed to achieve success. Students at Great Path Academy are fully immersed into the college community and are encouraged to accelerate their post-secondary studies by supplementing their high school program with college coursework.
About the Curriculum
Great Path Academy at Manchester Community College is a middle college, inter-district high magnet school for students in grades nine through twelve. The school operates under the auspices of the Board of Regents for Higher Education and is managed by the Hartford Public Schools. Students are selected to enroll in our school through a blind lottery through the Regional School Choice Office. Our students come to us from numerous towns across the Hartford Country including, but not limited to: Hartford, Manchester, East Hartford, Bloomfield, South Windsor, Vernon, Coventry and New Britain.
I was placed in the district of Hartford by Teach for America in August of 2012. TFA is an organization that places passionate teachers in underserved, high-poverty communities. Hartford is one of these communities. Thus, the importance of this opportunity for these students is invaluable. After working here for the past year I have seen how high poverty and associated circumstances can often create barriers to opportunity. More importantly though, I have witnessed students and teachers break down these barriers to achievement. It is my hope that this experience in Spain will empower my students to use Spanish outside of the classroom and make the hard work they have been doing in Spanish class come alive. They are amazing and deserve nothing less than this incredible experience.
Without your help, this trip will not become reality. This opportunity is potentially life-changing and you could play a role in making it happen!
Contact [email redacted] with any questions/comments! And of course, don't forget to donate!
Organizer
Kimberly Anne
Organizer
Manchester, CT
