Students deliver supplies to Costa Rican school

BEA World Travelers successfully completed its first international trip. Seventeen travelers from Bald Eagle Area High School, led by Spanish teacher Angela Smith, traveled from Dec. 27-Jan. 6 throughout Costa Rica. “The adventurers kayaked one of the largest artificial lakes of Central America; zip-lined through the jungle canopy near the City of Clouds, Monteverde; played on the beaches of one of their best-known national parks, Manuel Antonio; and floated down the crocodile-infested river of Tarcoles in a boat,” Smith said. Students spent time in Esperanza, a small community that was devastated in October by mudslides that blocked off the city for days from the rest of the world. The community has a one-room schoolhouse to educate students in kindergarten through six grades, but were unable to use the facility because of the mudslides. The BEA students delivered donated school supplies to the Esperanza principal and families. The principal said the donations would supply students with notebooks and pencils for the entire following school year. Said Smith, “Each stop, each tour, each conversation of the 11-day trip offered first-time opportunities to our travelers. Whether it was flying in an airplane, whitewater rafting, trying new food, missing home, or managing the stress of flight cancellations and delays, each individual faced challenges that were overcome to end in an extraordinary tale filled with humor, adventure and life lessons.”