ACIS Group Leader Spotlight: French Educator Kiera

Kiera is a French language educator and ACIS Group Leader from Maryland. On her ACIS trip to France and Spain this summer, her student group was paired with a group from North Carolina, and the bonds they ended up forming will be with them for a lifetime.

1. Tell us a little about yourself! How long have you been teaching?

My name is Kiera and this school year marks my third year living my best life as a French teacher! One of my favorite things to tell my students is how French was the subject I performed the worst in academically during high school. What made the difference was that I was determined to learn French and accepted the life-long journey of learning another language. I ended up studying abroad my senior year of high school in French speaking-Belgium. This lead me to both work and study abroad again in France and Italy prior to becoming a teacher. Providing real-world opportunities for my students and inspiring them to use the language outside of the classroom is my primary goal a teacher.

2. Had you previously traveled with ACIS or lead students abroad?

This was my first time traveling abroad with students. I plan for many more trips to follow!

3. What are the top provider qualities you look for when organizing an educational tour abroad? If you have any experience with competitors, please share!

One of the top considerations when deciding on which tour company to travel with was the overall quality of the trip. When some students are paying their own way to fund a trip like this, as the teacher, you want to make sure it is worth every penny! With ACIS, this is absolutely the case. My favorite part was that our hotels were all centrally located in the cities we visited. Our tour manager’s tips and explanations (for example, how to navigate the subway systems) made exploring during free time very approachable. By the end, the students felt more confident traveling in Paris than anywhere else in the US!

4. You were paired with another group for your tour. Tell us about how the groups integrated. How did the combination enhance the tour?

While at first I was hesitant about traveling with an unknown group, this combo ended up being one of the best aspects of the trip. Jane, French teacher of a school in North Carolina, and I met in Barcelona during the ACIS-hosted conference for first-time group leaders and instantly bonded. Of course we didn’t know at the time that in six months, we would get to spend nine days together with both of one another’s students. Discovering new places can make people grow close together in such a short about of time. We got to see so many new friendships bloom between Jane and I’s students. Both of our groups blended so well together, even our tour manager didn’t know which students were hers and which were mine!

5. Do you think your students made friends they’ll keep in touch with?

There was one student of mine in particular who signed up for the trip without knowing anyone else who was attending. Additionally, she was the youngest traveler in our group. Three days later, this same student gave a toast at dinner, thanking everyone for being there to discover Europe together and for being able to find her best friend… (one of the NC students!). Last I heard, they were planning to meet half way during the summer to see each other again.

6. Which aspect of the trip do you think your students enjoyed the most? Which aspects did you like best as a traveler and as an educator?

Because of the confidence built and the new friendships that were formed, my students enjoyed their free time the best. During these few hours each day, they were able to shop, explore and visit museums that weren’t necessarily part of our group itinerary. 

As a French teacher who has a good amount of travel experience, I want to provide my students opportunities, like these trips, to build their confidence in themselves. I feel this trip planted the seed for future independent travel. I enjoyed visiting both France and Spain as the students got to compare and contrast these European countries to one another and to the USA.

7. Where would you like to go next?

For our 2026 trip, we would like to go to the south of France and Italy. Visiting two different countries is a great selling point to promote our trip, and who wouldn’t want to travel to these two beautiful countries!