The Meaning of Educational Travel for Teens: What Research Tells Us

Presented by Carrie A. Olson, PhD, Researcher and Teacher, West Leadership Academy, Denver Public Schools; with Carylann Assante, CAE, Executive Director of SYTA and the SYTA Youth Foundation
Sponsored by SYTA – The Student & Youth Travel Association

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Are you looking for data and findings to support educational travel programs at your school? In this edWebinar, join Carrie A. Olson, PhD, researcher and teacher at West Leadership Academy in Denver Public Schools, for a presentation of a research study that compares the academic achievement and school engagement of students who traveled with those who didn’t over a seven-year period. Dr. Olson also shares highlights from interviews with nine students and chaperones to shed more light on the meaning of educational travel.

Viewers will come away from this recorded session equipped with:

• An understanding of the data behind the positive impact of travel on students
• Ideas for applying this data to support travel programs for your own students
• Stories from students who have experienced travel and what they learned
• Strategies for developing a similar program for your own students

After Dr. Olson’s presentation, Carylann Assante, CAE, Executive Director of SYTA and the SYTA Youth Foundation, shares information on scholarship opportunities for providing access to travel experiences to young people that would not be possible otherwise due to family hardship or budget cuts in school systems.

This edWebinar is designed for teachers, administrators, and guidance counselors working with teenage students, however, anyone in a position to travel with students or anyone who supports educational travel is invited to watch.

About the Presenters

Carrie A. Olson, PhD, teaches grades 6-12 at West Leadership Academy in Denver Public Schools where she has taught since 1985. She teaches social studies in Spanish and English classes to recent immigrants and an AP seminar class. Her PhD is in curriculum and instruction with an emphasis in Holocaust and Genocide Studies from the University of Denver. She received her BA from Wartburg College and her master’s in curriculum and instruction with an emphasis in language, literacy, and culture from the University of Colorado at Denver. Dr. Olson is a National Board Certified Teacher since 1999. She is also a Museum Teacher Fellow for the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. She has traveled with over 800 students to Washington, DC since 1993 and to Europe since 2003, and is passionate about providing equity in educational travel for students.

A seasoned tourism and association executive with more than 30 years of experience in the industry, Carylann Assante, CAE serves as the Executive Director of the Student & Youth Travel Association, the international association that promotes student and youth travel worldwide. Carylann is also the Executive Director of the SYTA Youth Foundation, the philanthropic arm that provides scholarships and education experiences for students and youth who are unable to travel due to financial and personal hardship.

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Watch the Recording

 SYTA is the non-profit, professional trade association that promotes student & youth travel and seeks to foster integrity and professionalism among student and youth travel service providers. SYTA is “The Voice of Student and Youth Travel.®