Marblehead High offering two trip options for students in 2011

MARBLEHEAD – Marblehead students have two far-reaching field trips to choose from in 2011 – Costa Rica and Japan.Marblehead High Spanish teacher Brianne Duffy will take two adults and 12 high-level Spanish students to Costa Rica where they will test their Spanish on the Costa Ricans they meet and experience the culture of a Spanish-speaking country first-hand. The trip is scheduled for the April school vacation week.The trip to Japan is scheduled for the last week of June and has openings for 47 participants.Marblehead Veterans Middle School eighth-grade social studies teachers Mario Cacciola and Matt Hirshberg are leading the trip, which will cost $3,824 per student. Students have already begun raising money to offset the costs.The School Committee approved both trips, with committee member Jonathan Lederman expressing concern about the cost of the trip to Costa Rica.That trip will cost each student $2,295. Students have been asked for a $693 down payment and Duffy said fund-raising will be used to lower the other three payments as much as possible.She offered the results of a survey of 52 students in Level 4 Spanish or higher, showing that 38 were interested and able to afford the trip. Eleven more were interested, but didn’t think their families could afford the full cost.The report included 11 comments, including one student who called the trip "a great opportunity to get some worldly exposure."Duffy said the students who go on the trip will share their experiences with others when they return.Veterans Middle Principal Libby Moore said the Japan trip stems from her school’s Global Awareness Club and a social studies program called "Hot Spots in the World."The program is an introduction to global awareness in which students focus on China, Pakistan, Afghanistan, the Palestine conflict and the Holocaust.Marblehead residents who have lived in or traveled to those areas, or have Holocaust survivors in their family, participate in the class discussions.For most, Moore said, "It’s the first time they have discussed current events."