WorldStrides

A fun feature in the Pennsylvania community paper, Town Lively! "It was truly life changing to see a whole different world and make so many new fun memories. Having the opportunity to go on this trip is truly a blessing; many people only get to dream of these types of opportunities." - Adelynn Yunginger, Student Students from Cocalico, Pequea Valley, Ephrata and Twin Valley high schools recently completed a nine-day trip to Costa Rica with us! The itinerary included activities such as ziplining, visiting a volcano park, horseback riding, touring a butterfly garden and taking part in a cooking class. "It's great because it's so hands-on. There is so much to see and do....While I love museums, this is so much more interesting and active. (The students and chaperones) were so happy they went." - Jennifer Bilby, Pequea Valley High School Teacher Read more about their adventures here! https://bit.ly/46USRbb

On this Labor Day, WorldStrides extends our heartfelt thanks to every member of our team! Your dedication, hard work, and commitment drive our success and contribute to life-changing moments every day. Today, we celebrate you and the incredible effort you put into making our vision a reality. Thank you for all that you do! Happy Labor Day! 🎉 🇺🇸

What a time! We had an absolute blast in Scotland for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society – the world’s largest arts festival. 🎭 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 🤩 We were blown away by the performances and we can't wait to do it again next year. Thanks to the International Collegiate Theatre Festival by WorldStrides for the video recap! ICTF is an opportunity for collegiate performing arts programs to showcase their productions on the world stage of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. For almost thirty years, our company has given select performing arts programs the platform to perform and gain global perspectives during the largest arts festival in the world. Learn more about ICTF here! https://bit.ly/3XhUL1x

Please join WorldStrides today in observing National Women’s Equality Day, which commemorates the 1920 adoption of the Nineteenth Amendment, and reminds us of the unfathomable barriers that resilient women faced in the struggle for gender equality and the right to vote. 104 years later, the pursuit for gender equality is even more significant in contemporary society as women continue to be paid only 84% of what men make in the US. However, there continues to be advocates and allies who propel society forward to recognize the importance of women having equal rights and economic power. Despite their efforts, it will take a structural shift to meaningfully reduce the barriers that continue to prevent gender equality. As we look forward, we hope that you will work towards removing those hurdles by honoring the women of the suffrage movement by voting, empowering women in the workplace, and supporting women-owned businesses. Learn more about the history of Women's Equality Day and how to support here: https://lnkd.in/ehsyPrkP

We put together a gallery of all our 2024 WorldStrides Student Photo & Video Contest submissions! 📸 🌟 📹 View here: https://bit.ly/3YQrIEt We want to thank every student who participated! We had some incredible submissions and we’re thrilled to share them all with you. From shots of ancient Greek ruins, to trying new foods in Japan, learning in our nation’s capital, and performing at the world famous Carnegie Hall, looking through each submission was a fun adventure in itself! Follow us on Instagram @worldstrides for a chance to see their work highlighted on our socials. 😊

It's time to start thinking about how to bring your students' learning to life through travel. We'll show you how in our upcoming webinar! Tune-in on Tuesday, August 27 at 7pm ET to see our simple process for yourself. In this short 20-minute webinar, you'll learn more about WorldStrides and how easy we make it to get a program started in your school. We'll also tell you about the many great rewards available to you when you start promoting your program this fall. Even better! When you attend the webinar and speak with a WorldStrides Travel Specialist, you’ll receive a $100 Amazon.com Gift Card. We can't wait for you to join us! Sign up today using your school email address: https://lnkd.in/gHiYDcgu

The time has finally come to announce the winner of the 2024 WorldStrides Student Photo & Video Contest! 📸 🏆 📹 We want to give a HUGE shoutout to all of the students who participated in this year's contest! We received some incredible submissions and we're thrilled to continue sharing them. From shots of ancient Greek ruins, to trying new foods in Japan, learning in our nation's capital, and performing at the world famous Carnegie Hall, looking through each submission was a fun adventure in itself! The Grand Prize winner of the 2024 WorldStrides Student Photo & Video Contest is...drum roll...🥁 Eddie Xu! 🎉 🏆 🎉 📹 Eddie's video from his time in Germany with Explorica by WorldStrides is an excellent example of how life-changing our trips are! We hope this video inspires you to continue traveling, documenting, and learning more about the world. Enjoy!

WorldStrides is proud to announce that B Lavornia (they/she), Senior Enrollment Manager in Higher Education, was selected to receive The United States Tour Operators Association (USTOA) Future Lights of the Tour Industry award! USTOA selected B for the exceptional contributions they have made while serving as the Co-Chair of WorldStrides Higher Education’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee (WSHEDEI). In their role, they engage with study abroad students and provide consultative support to various teams within the organization on issues related to diverse student populations. With B’s guidance, WSHEDEI successfully launched a 36-week Diversity 101 course for WorldStrides higher education team members that addressed topics including implicit and explicit bias, stereotypes, impact versus intent, diversity, accessibility, inclusive communication, and more. A groundbreaking initiative in the field, this asynchronous course aims to set a new standard by ensuring all higher education team members achieve a consistent level of understanding about themselves, their peers, and our customer base. Although this training is exclusive to WorldStrides’ Higher Education team members at this time, USTOA members were provided a preview of the course. Winners of the 2024 USTOA Future Lights of the Tour Industry are “recognized as champions of sustainability and DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion) efforts within their own companies, and now, among all members of USTOA and the greater tour and travel industry.” This award was launched in “2022 during USTOA’s 50th anniversary to mark the association’s commitment to focus on the people, issues, and opportunities that will shape and improve the tour industry for future generations.”   WorldStrides’ commitment is fueled by the passion of our team members and partners to make experiential learning accessible, while also being socially, environmentally, and ethically responsible. Together, we accomplish this by investing in initiatives to promote inclusion, diversity, and sustainability. The contributions that B has made in DEI allows us to continue to maintain our goal of having diversity, equity, and inclusion in all that we do, because it is “the right thing to do.” Read more here: https://lnkd.in/gS94jjsY

Last week wrapped up the 7th Annual WorldStrides Chicago Summit, where over 100 education abroad professionals gathered to dive deep into student accessibility, program intentionality, and the impact on education abroad. The sessions were insightful and inspiring, giving us fresh perspectives on how to enhance the study abroad experience for students. The highlight? A pizza-making contest that brought out our competitive spirits! 🍕 Feeling invigorated and ready to apply what we've learned as we head into the new semester! #WorldStridesSummit #EducationAbroad

The 7th Annual WorldStrides Summit on Education Abroad was one for the books! Gathering with over 100 incredible colleagues from our university partners in beautiful Chicago last week was an absolute treat—and we're not just talking about the Chicago-style pizza-making excursion! 😋🍕 We kicked things off Thursday afternoon with a thought-provoking session by the brilliant Tianna Soto on supporting students through mental health hurdles, then heard from our very own Sarah Warren and Kelly Lampe, M.Ed. about empowering students with disabilities to study abroad. 💪 It's safe to say Friday kept the good vibes going. Just check out these highlights from our Associate Vice President of Campus Partnerships & stellar podcast host Zac Macinnes! 🙌 💅 A fabulous panel presentation moderated by Jessica Smith Durham on increasing your sphere of influence on campus featuring three amazing professionals: Autumn Beechler Stebing Tim White C. J. H. 🎭 A powerful conversation led by the one and only Keshia Abraham, PhD. - the best storyteller in education abroad! 🎤 Zac Macinnes facilitated a roundtable on how to meet our students where they are in 2025. 👥 Shelly Alfaro, our fearless Alumni Director, moderated a panel of study abroad alumni (Nathan Feest, Julia Weatherford, & Emmie Perkins) who shared how their ed abroad experiences inspired their life and career trajectories. 🏝️ Elizabeth Erbeznik brought us home with a conversation about how to align UN SDGs with program and university goals. Inspiring! Many thanks to everyone who was able to make it this year to learn, laugh, share insights, and eat some delicious deep dish with us. Here's looking forward to an unforgettable 2024-25 academic year! ✨👏 Special thanks to all those incredible team members behind the scenes who made the event possible, including Jennifer Fisher, MBA #studyabroad #internationaleducation #educationabroad #travel #highered