The CCS Global Ed. blog has been around for a while now. This school year marks a decade since this version of how we chronicle our students’ experiences around the world was born. We had a few independent blogs for trips before this website was made, but for a decade this has been a place where students have shared their thoughts, images, and videos. There is a lot one could take from all of the words posted here. But, today, I’d like to share what it means for those of us on the trips to know that many of you back home are reading along and joining us on our big adventures.

The easiest way to explain what it means is through the example of the blog’s most consistent participant and follower. For the last decade, Claudia Cola, “Mr. Cola’s mom”, was that example. In her decade of reading, commenting, and sending questions on the student and faculty blog posts, Claudia helped shape this space. Although she never came on a trip, she was with us on each of the 26 trips chronicled here. And that consistent presence – the kindness, the curiosity, the introspection, the appreciation, and the intelligence that she offered us – encouraged us all to think, to investigate, to travel with open minds and arms, and to make sure that we kept this blog alive. I think Claudia counted on it in her annual calendar and I know I counted on her to be the first person to comment on most blog posts, to recognize the truly exceptional posts in the mix, to know when a kid was putting themselves out there, and much more.

It might seem like a subtle or small thing to write a few sentences about something a teenager on the other side of the planet chooses to share. But in totality, the scale and scope of Mr. Cola’s mom’s engagment with all of this wasn’t subtle at all. It was substantial.

To me, learning is inherently communal. Even when we read something alone on our computers, we learn it through our social understanding of the person who wrote it, the time period it was written in, and our own lived experience of being a human. And, so, when I designed this blog idea to allow people to learn about what we do when we travel, it became, at its best, a community space. A place you could come back to, a place you could look forward to, a place you could ponder, a place you might visit when you need a reminder.

If you’re reading this, your participation in this community is essential to its function. The blog is nothing without the people reading the words we share. Please keep it up!

When we’re out in the world, the comments we receive and the questions people ask are essential. They tether us back to CCS and to the mission of the school that we are trying other live out in the Global Education Program. The mission of connecting our students with the world, of expanding their understanding of themselves and those around them, of teaching values and responsibilities, and much more. They remind our students that their families are paying attention. They remind the chaperones that there is academic value here. Really, they help shape the experience. Please participate!

I know that this is going to be a powerful addition to the Global Education trip list. The 28 students who signed up are eager and excited participants and things are already going well even though the trip has just begun. The ground is fertile. But it is also going to mark a significant change to this little blog-based community. We will miss Claudia’s presence. But we will not forget her – the expectations she had for us, the kind words, the great questions, and the way she met us in this experience.

Much love, Claudia “Mr. Cola’s mom” Cola. You will be with us always here.