Educational travel with CAS Trips is a fun and stimulating way to inspire students to link different ideas, forge meaningful friendships, and experience new cultures. It is also a hugely beneficial advantage when preparing for exams, interviews, and life beyond high school. Traveling opens students’ eyes to the wealth of opportunities available to them and helps cultivate a deeper appreciation for the type of political and social issues they would like to engage with in the future.
Each of our CAS Trips has been expertly curated to capitalize on these benefits and ensure students reap the full potential from their experience. So, as we gear up for a new academic year, let’s look at a few ways CAS Trips can bolster the educational experience of the students who travel with us.
Our trips increase cultural and global awareness
We have worked hard to establish trusting and robust relationships with partner organizations in our destinations around the world. This means that our student travelers get to experience a place through the eyes of the people who live there and are engaged in the community around them. Therefore, students come to understand the world they are being exposed to alongside those directly impacted. This builds empathy and alters the worldview of young people. We have witnessed the results first-hand— removing students from their “bubbles” and pushing them beyond their comfort zones can have remarkable consequences.
Our trips develop critical 21st-century skills
As the IB’s emphasis on International Mindedness and the cohesive nature of the IB Learner Profile illustrates, the problems of the future are global in nature. Our trips help students develop the skills and sensibilities to navigate the changes and challenges that lie ahead. We believe that careers will look very different 20 years from now. Exposure to the vast array of people doing meaningful work in their communities will help students find an engaging and fulfilling path forward. Traveling puts students in a position to work on the life skills they will need to excel in their field of choice.
Our trips refine project-based skill sets
In addition, by incorporating elements like our CAS Project Challenge and sustainability challenge—students get the chance to practice organization, goal-setting, and time management while traveling with us. They encounter situations where they need to problem-solve, think critically, work as a team and get creative. We have learned that adding project-based experiences to our trips adds even more skill-building opportunities, and leads to a more fulfilling experience thanks to increased communication and collaboration.
Our trips help improve personal responsibility
Each itinerary we design is intended to provide students with the opportunity to safely expand horizons and exercise agency. Under the guidance of professional and experienced guides, students have the chance to practice managing their time and money and to work through problems like navigating a new city and dealing with language barriers. This all contributes to building self-reliance and confidence. Overall, educational travel leaves students with a newfound understanding of themselves as individuals.
Our trips open doors of opportunity
Our trips are intended to inspire students and serve as a springboard for finding new activities and passions. So many opportunities are available to young people, but exposure is the key to unlocking them. In some cases, our students end up interning with organizations they first assisted on a CAS Trip or otherwise mobilize the relationships they have built to further their professional career.
Our trips teach students to reflect on and articulate their experiences
Reflection is a fundamental pillar of CAS but, through years of experience, we have learnt that creating meaningful, creative reflections is not a straightforward process for students. Therefore, every CAS Trip involves a Reflections Challenge and on-trip Workshop in which students must use multimedia to reflect before, during and after their trip to demonstrate that reflection can be fun and easy.
Our trips bring students together and introduce them to future collaborators
Having the right people around you is such an essential element of success. Our Global Student Conferences have long been one of the premiere events in the IB community for bringing international students from around the globe together to learn, bond, and inspire one another. The unique environment we facilitate, the guest speakers, and the group challenges presented all ensure students leave with a host of new contacts they will have for years to come.
Our trips provide hands-on experience in sustainability initiatives
Sustainability needs to be a priority for all of us going forward. Increasingly, we put sustainability-geared activities at the center of our CAS Trips. This allows students to appreciate how communities worldwide are mobilizing to fight climate change and teaches them new tactics they can apply at home or in their future endeavors.
Be exposed to new cultures before deciding where to study and work
Working and studying abroad is an invaluable experience for young people. Our trips are designed to introduce youth to new places and cultures in an approachable way that will increase their curiosity and appetite for travel. We want each of our trips to serve as a memorable ‘beginning’ in the lives of our student travelers.
Ready to start travel planning a student trip? Check out our destinations here and email us at info@castrips.org for travel inspiration and planning assistance.
