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Costa Rica Study and Leadership Program
March 2012

Rationale
The motivation for this proposal was derived from the personal and professional experiences of its authors in conjunction with the vision prescribed by Adventure Learning Experiences for all of its programs.   This vision involves Learning, Leadership, and Service within the context of safe adventure.

Service Learning
A unique and distinguishing component of this program is the concept of “service learning”.  Service learning can be identified as experiential education when the learner adopts a life role that provides meaningful service to a community in order to learn about oneself and others.  The pedagogical value of the service increases when the following are added to the learning:  an academic component designed to prepare the learner in terms of content and competencies relevant to the service; an opportunity to reflect upon and think critically about the experience; an element of adventure and challenge; an international and cross-cultural context; and an alignment of individual, placement, and system goals. 

Leader
This program will be conducted by Mr. Brent Evans. Brent is an accredited teacher with the Ontario College of Teachers and currently teaches at Dr. John M. Denison Secondary School in Newmarket, Ontario for the York Region District School Board. Brent has abundant experience as an educator devoted to experiential and service learning. He has worldwide travel experience and has recently led trips to India, Nepal, China, Kenya and Mexico.

Lakeside International School
This program is supported and will be facilitated through the cooperation of Lakeside International School. Lakeside is a small International school situated in Costa Rica on a 200 acre farm with over 250 species of birds and abundant wildlife. It is owned by Rob and Rena Willis, two former Microsoft Corporation programmers and is accredited by the Costa Rican Ministry of Education. The International Director at Lakeside is Mr. Michael Charles, a former Professor at the Ontario Institue for Studies in Education/University of Toronto.

The school capitalizes on the natural Costa Rican habitat to enrich, appreciate, and deepen student understanding about concepts introduced in the classroom. This habitat includes the rainforest, cloud forest, mangrove beaches, coral reef, volcanoes, biodiversity and eco-conservation.

Participants

Youth
Approximately 10 students will be selected for admission to this program.  Participants will be selected according to the following criteria:
 
            1.        Trustworthiness and reliability
            2.        Respectfulness of other people and cultures
            3.        Adaptability to new experiences
            4.        Fitness
            5.        Pleasant disposition
           
Interested students will be invited to submit an application and two letters of reference attesting to their suitability according to the criteria cited above. 

Code of Conduct
Each student will be expected to pledge commitment to a Code of Conduct,  which will be designed to ensure that respect for each participant, his/her property, and well-being is safeguarded.  This code will preclude harassment and abusiveness and will prohibit the use of alcohol and drugs.  Above all, the rights and responsibilities of all participants will be clearly defined so that the objectives of this program may be achieved within a healthy and safe environment. 

Adult Supervision
Adventure Learning Experiences will supply the Leader, pretrip educational program and health and safety preparation. The Leader will accompany the participants to Costa Rica and will stay with the group for the duration of the trip.

Interviews
Each applicant will be invited to a private interview with the Directors to assess his/her suitability for the program. This will also give the applicant the opportunity to determine if the program serves his/her needs and interests. Students will be asked to bring their letters of reference to this meeting.

Program Design
The program will consist of a learning program, conducted before departure, followed by the trip to Costa Rica. The pre-trip program is meant to sensitize participants to issues involving this part of the world, develop rapport between participants, and deal with health and safety concerns. Participants will be asked to select and explore a topic of personal interest related to a Costa Rican theme (history, politics, geography, habitat, wildlife, spirituality, etc.) and share it with the group. This is not meant to be burdensome but rather is intended to give participants the opportunity to deepen their understanding of Costa Rica and thereby maximize their experience. There will be 4 meetings arranged according to the following schedule:  

Reading List: A short reading list will be provided at a later date.

Journaling: Daily journal writing will be an essential component of the program. A composite journal with volunteer submissions from all participants will be compiled and offered to all participants at the end of the experience as a memory of our shared experience.


ACTIVITIES
There will be a number of learning and service opportunities made available to participants. These will include many of the following:

Travel Arrangements

Travel Dates:  March 10-19, 2012


Flight Itinerary:

Transportation
Local transportation will be organized and provided by the coordinators in Costa Rica, under the supervision of Michael Charles. Professional drivers from reputable local providers will be used. Air travel will be provided by a reputable international carrier.

                                              
Accommodation
Accomodations will be provided by the officials of Lakeside International School. It is expected that the group will stay together in a local hotel as recommended by our coordinators in Costa Rica. The hotel will be modest by western standards, but will always be safe and clean and the group Leader will be accomodated in the same hotel.

Finances
Participants will be charged a single fee of approximately $3350, which will cover return airfare from Toronto to Costa Rica, all travel expenses within the country, meals, accommodations, training materials and any donations to the local communities.

Payment will be made by regular installments according to the following schedule:

            $   595            Deposit accompanying application
            $ 1000            December 4, 2011
            $ 1000            February 1, 2012
            $   755            March 1, 2012

Note: Participants are asked to submit a series of postdated cheques according to this schedule. Cheques should be made payable to Adventure Learning Experiences Inc.

Fundraising

Fundraising activities will be supported by the authors. In particular, the principal endeavour will be a booklet, which will describe the features and participants of the program. The sale of advertisements in the booklet will be directly subtracted from the fee charged to individual participants, with a nominal charge for the cost of printing the booklets. Schools may also undertake their own local fundraising initiatives as well.

Refund Policy

For withdrawal before January 1st, 2012, a refund of $400 from the original deposit will be provided.

For withdrawal between January 1st, 2012 and February 1st, 2012 a full refund minus the deposit will be provided.

For withdrawal after February 1st, 2012, no refund can be provided due to the advance purchase of airline tickets and prepayment of trip costs.

Other Costs

The only other costs that are not included in the above price are the following :

            Passport (this must not expire within 6 months of departure)
            Out-of-country health insurance                     
            Inoculations (depending upon one’s private insurance coverage)
            Private expenses

Health and Safety
Careful attention to sound health and safety practices will be an important part in the preparation of the program.  This will involve mandatory immunizations, learning  healthy eating and drinking habits, and understanding effective illness prevention practices. For maximum benefit it is recommended that participants, in general, be in good health and achieve a sufficient level of fitness prior to the trip.  Physical and dental check-ups are highly recommended prior to the departure date. 

Immunization

a)           The following are ordinarily administered through one’s family doctor in the course of               normal Ontario health care.  All participants are asked to ensure their protection               with inoculations against the following diseases:

               Tetanus – Diphtheria - Polio
               Measles-Mumps-Rubella

b)            Protection against malaria is by tablet and is taken on a regular basis prior, during, and                following the trip.  The exact regimen will be prescribed by a travel clinic. 
               

c)            Inoculations against the following may be required: 

                        Typhoid
                        Tetantus
                        Hepatitis A
                        Hepatitis B
                       

The cost of these inoculations are not covered by OHIP but may be included in private health plans.  Each participant will be expected to visit a travel health clinic for professional medical information and inoculations and prescriptions.

Precautions

As indicated above, careful preparation prior to departure about safe eating and drinking habits and illness prevention practices will be undertaken.  Participants will be expected to purchase “The Travel Doctor” by Dr. Mark Wise (Firefly Books, 2002) as part of this preparation.  A close working relationship has been developed by the authors with Dr. Mark Wise.  Dr. Wise is a family physician in Willowdale, whose medical practice includes a travel clinic. He  is considered a leading authority in tropical and parasitic diseases.  Dr. Wise will conduct a 90 minute training workshop about preventative health practices for our students prior to departure and will make recommendations about appropriate inoculations.

Our groups will greatly benefit from the local contacts which the authors have established in Costa Rica with the officials of Lakeside International School. Each participant will be expected to purchase out-of-country health insurance.

It is most strongly recommended that each participant seek proper medical advice for all potential health concerns at a Canadian travel health clinic prior to departure. 

It is advised that each participant complete the Consent to Medical Treatment Form in the event that urgent and emergency care is required.

• Develop Your Leadership Skills Through Service
• Experience Costa Rica's diverse habitat while studying biodiversity and ecoconservation
• Visit Monteverde Cloud Forest, coral reef, volcano, waterfall and more