Educational Tour Leader Spotlight: Christina C., California

Educational tour group leader, Christina C. recently answered a few questions for us about why she plans educational trips and how it's been doing so during this crazy year.

What’s your motivation for leading educational tours?

My motivation for sharing educational travel with my students, is to help them expand their horizons and truly change their lives. Because when I studied abroad as a college student, it did in fact change my life, and I love to travel and I love to experience new things. And it gave me a sense of confidence to go out into the world and do all the other things that I did with my life.

What was the reaction from the school administration when you indicated that you wanted to start organizing a trip?

When I told my school administrators that I was going to plan a trip to Spain, they were so supportive. They said that I could absolutely utilize all of our social media, sending emails out to students through the system, publicize with posters and flyers and meetings. So I was really, really pleased, and in fact a little bit surprised. All I had to simply do is put a little asterisk at the bottom of all my materials that said it was not a school sponsored trip and that was the only disclaimer that I needed to put on there, and it’s been really successful in helping me to recruit my students.

Why did you decide to start planning for 2022?

I decided to start planning my trip for 2022, because after this pandemic experience, I really recognize the importance of seizing the moment and taking advantage of all opportunities. I had originally planned my trip for the 2021 year, and rather than cancel it, all the parents who had already signed on, had decided that they would love to roll it over to the following year. And this year, as I’ve been recruiting students, I’ve had a zoom meeting, my ACIS representative was so helpful, she brought in a tour guide from Spain, or who works on the program in Spain, where we’ll be attending, and she spoke to my students. I advertised on social media, on Google Classroom, via emails to students directly from the school system, and I had a great turnout. I think people are ready to travel. All the safety features that they mentioned makes it very comfortable for parents, and I’m just really excited that we’ll be able to take this trip in 2022. And I’m really, really pleased with all the of the help and the positivity that I’ve received not only from my ACIS rep, but also from my students who are interested in attending and those who are already enrolled to go.

Thanks Christina, we can’t wait to travel with you!