{"id":11515,"date":"2023-09-26T16:03:13","date_gmt":"2023-09-26T20:03:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/?p=11515"},"modified":"2023-09-26T16:14:38","modified_gmt":"2023-09-26T20:14:38","slug":"landstown-high-students-learn-through-summer-travel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/landstown-high-students-learn-through-summer-travel\/","title":{"rendered":"Landstown High students learn through summer travel"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Landstown Governor\u2019s STEM Academy student Zach Clark enjoyed the zip-line experience as part of an educational trip he took overseas this past summer under the direction of visual design teacher Tyler Swartz. Swartz is all about providing real-world experiences for students.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Landstown High School visual design teacher Tyler Swartz shared his love for travel with a group of students this past summer on a trip to New Zealand, Australia, and Fiji. He’s visited more than 64 countries, and believes in real-world experiences to enhance learning. More overseas trips are planned for 2024.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

– Cindy Butler Focke<\/em><\/p>\n

Tyler Swartz has seen the world \u2013 and he wants to give his students the same opportunity.\u00a0 The retired Navy photographer and public relations officer is a visual design educator at the Governor\u2019s STEM Academy at Landstown High School. He\u2019s visited more than 64 countries \u2013 and shared his love for travel with five students this summer on a trip to New Zealand, Australia, and Fiji.<\/p>\n

Senior Avery Yasko said he especially enjoyed ziplining in New Zealand.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really gained confidence,\u201d he said. \u201cThe trip taught me to appreciate the world a little more; the air, the beauty, rainbows.\u201d<\/p>\n

Photo opportunities were plentiful for him and fellow travelers. They snorkeled in Fiji and surfed in Australia, where they were treated to a backstage tour of the Sydney Opera House. Some of the highlights in New Zealand included sheep-shearing and a visit to Hobbiton, where \u201cLord of the Rings\u201d and \u201cThe Hobbit\u201d were filmed. Avery uploaded some of his photos to sell online. Marketing the photos and selling a brand was something learned in class, he said.<\/p>\n

Swartz discovered his love for culture and travel while on a mission trip to Mexico in high school. He\u2019s always seeking new ways to get students excited about their world \u2013 and said traveling to other parts of the globe can be life-changing. Students explored other countries and met fellow travelers from high schools across the U.S., another part of the learning experience, he added.<\/p>\n

Some students never get the opportunity, so to help make the trips affordable, Swartz founded Padawan Travelers, a reference to \u201cStar Wars,\u201d meaning apprentice or learner. The nonprofit organization allows students to collect donations or host fundraisers to help cover costs.<\/p>\n

Ryan Johnson was part of Swartz\u2019s 2022 student trip to Italy and Spain \u2013 delayed from the previous year due to COVID-19. It was her first time traveling outside the U.S.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was eye-opening to see how our country is so much different,\u201d she said. She was surprised at the friendliness of the people, and the cleanliness of the cities. Students toured museums, went to the Vatican, the Colosseum, learned history, and explored cities. Ryan posted her photos for sale on Instagram. Skills learned in class helped her take meaningful photos, and also edit occasionally to enhance the photos, such as removing shadows or people in the background.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Landstown High School visual design teacher Tyler Swartz led a group of students on a trip this past summer to New Zealand, Australia, and Fiji. One of their many adventures included climbing the Sydney Bridge. Left to right: Matthew Niles, Zach Clark, Phoenix Greer, Mr. Swartz.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Swartz recently earned a Master of Photography degree from Professional Photographers of America, and currently one of his entries is travelling internationally in the organization\u2019s photographic exhibit.<\/p>\n

When he\u2019s not travelling, teaching, taking photos, or finishing up a doctorate in K-12 educational leadership, Swartz sponsors the school\u2019s Underwater Robotics team. A small space in his classroom is dedicated to the group, which meets after school to research and build a robot to compete against other schools in the spring.<\/p>\n

The group\u2019s CEO, senior Robert Vasquez, said he enjoys being with students with like interests.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany of us are looking for a future related to engineering,\u201d he said. Swartz smiled.\u00a0 He is all about supporting experiences that will enhance students\u2019 life in the future.<\/p>\n

Swartz\u2019s students in his Graphic Communications, Communication Systems, and Video & Media Technology create posters to market events, learn photography techniques from professionals who visit the classroom, earn professional certifications such as Adobe Photoshop, host podcasts, run video equipment, learn lighting techniques for photography, produce graphics, design T-shirts and coffee mugs, and much more.<\/p>\n

His philosophy is that his students\u2019 assignments be \u201cextremely hands-on.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey should take the knowledge learned and apply it in the real world,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He tells them: \u201cI am your boss and I\u2019m treating you like an employee.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, what\u2019s next for the educational travel itinerary?\u00a0 At the end of the school year:\u00a0 a trip to England, France, Belgium, Germany and Austria focused on World War II, and to Greece in the summer of 2024.<\/p>\n

For more information on the trips, visit <\/em>www.padawantravelers.org<\/em><\/a> and on Facebook.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Landstown High School visual design teacher Tyler Swartz shared his love for travel with a group of students this past summer on a trip to New Zealand, Australia, and Fiji. He’s visited more than 64 countries, and believes in real-world experiences to enhance learning. More overseas trips are planned for 2024.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

– Cindy Butler Focke Tyler Swartz has seen the world \u2013 and he wants to give his students the same opportunity.\u00a0 The retired Navy photographer and public relations officer is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":11517,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11515","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11515","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11515"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11515\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11525,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11515\/revisions\/11525"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11517"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}