Most Spanish class experiences do not include holding tarantulas, visiting a cloud forest or seeing a volcano erupt. But during a class trip to Costa Rica, five Frenship High School students had that opportunity.

On June 18, dual-credit Spanish teacher Pedro Gonzalez and students Kari Bunting, Ashley Ratcliff, Marissa Leija, Avery Cox and Emily Chapman returned from a nine-day trip to Costa Rica.

Bunting, an incoming senior, said the trip improved her Spanish better than a classroom setting would.

“Costa Rica is a big tourist place, so a lot of people do know English, but Mr. Gonzalez wanted us to expand our Spanish and we really did learn a lot,” she said. “We got ice cream like three to four times a day, and just by going there and saying, ‘I want a waffle cone with three scoops of ice cream’ and talking to the other travelers and other kids.  It was a really cool experience.”

Gonzalez said he saw the trip as an educational reward to students in his dual-credit Spanish classes.

“We talked about the trip a little bit last year and then this year we came back and I said, ‘Look this is the first year you’re not required to take a foreign language,” he said. “They took a big leap of faith. They trusted me to get them where they needed to be and enjoyed my class enough to know that it was something they wanted to continue to do. Since they committed to me, I offered this to only my dual-credit students.”

The students took tours with Explorica, a company that provides educational tours for high school and middle school students and teachers.  Gonzalez said his students narrowed down the trip choices to Spain, Mexico and Costa Rica. Bunting said the itinerary was what attracted the class to Costa Rica.

“I think we chose it because of the activities that they provided,” she said. “They looked the most exciting and also it was one of the cheaper of all the tours. It was a lot of good fun for a really good price.”

Students spent nine days doing various activities such as kayaking, hiking and visiting volcanoes and natural hot springs.  Bunting said she was surprised at the hospitality of the country.

“The people were incredibly nice,” she said. “I mean, I expected them to be friendly, but everyone was just so welcoming to us.”

Gonzalez, a former Texas Tech professor, used to help with recruiting for Texas Tech’s study abroad program in Seville, Spain.  After helping the university increase its study abroad numbers, Gonzalez was offered the opportunity to teach in Seville.

“It was pretty amazing,” he said. “Having that experience under me, I thought there was no reason why I can’t take my students on the same experience.”

Bunting said she will continue her Spanish studies with dual-credit Spanish 4 in the fall, and hopes to minor in Spanish after she graduates.

“My dad is a fluent Spanish-speaker,” she said. “He taught himself, which I thought was amazing, and he really encouraged me and my sister to speak Spanish. I’ve been convinced that I can use Spanish a lot in my life, in whatever job I decide to go into.”

After the students returned, Gonzalez took another trip to Peru to look at it as a prospect for the dual-credit trip in 2009.

“There’s nothing like immersing oneself in a foreign country,” he said. “I mean, that’s the best way to learn.”