For Immediate Release
Contact: Evelyne Girardet
(312) 573-4646
egirardet@latinschool.org

Chicago-Chile Educational Expedition to Deliver Aid, Foster Web Learning

CHICAGO– What does it take to connect students in a remote fishing village in Patagonia, Chile to classrooms in Chicago via the Internet? Months of preparation and countless supplies.
On Friday, October 11, a team of outdoor experts and educators from the organization Connecting Classrooms to the World will show Kindergarten through fifth grade students at The Latin School of Chicago just some of the equipment it will need to deliver hundreds of pounds of medical, school, and technical supplies, including five computers, to the schoolhouse at Puerto Eden, Chile.
The team, which includes teachers from The Latin School and the High Jump academic enrichment program, will talk to students during a special morning assembly beginning at 8:45 a.m. at Latin’s Lower School, 1531 N. Dearborn Parkway.

Connecting Classrooms to the World leaves for Chile October 14. During its 18-day journey the group, including a photographer, videographer, webmaster, translator, expedition guide, organizers, and teachers will travel by plane, boat, and foot to Puerto Eden, a fishing village near the southern tip of Chile.

As the group visits cities, villages, glaciers, parks, and waterways in Chile, it will keep up a real-time correspondence with Chicago students and classrooms. CCW will also develop online lesson plans about Chile’s culture, history, and geography for students and educators around the world.

“We are using distance learning and new media as a means to connect the lives of children around the world,” says CCW director Don Worsham, who has led similar trips to Nepal and Argentina. “We are excited to continue this mission by bringing our experiences in Chile to Chicago students and to the world's youth via the Internet.”

This is the third educational expedition by CCW since its founding in 1999 by local retailer Active Endeavors. A combined total of 10 tons of school and medical supplies were delivered during past expeditions to Ringmo, Nepal and Aconcagua, Argentina. Three tons of supplies have been collected for the Chile trip. To date, more than 700 students and 50 educators in Chicago and abroad have used the expeditions’ daily observations and lesson plans in their own classrooms, with more than three million visitors logging on to CCW’s web site, http://www.activeendeavors.com/expeditions/, since 1999.

For more information about Connecting Classrooms to the World
CONTACT: Lisa Weiss (847) 869-7070, x4; pager (312) 790-0100