Drama Teachers: Tips For Travelling with Students

Episode 162: Drama Teachers: Tips for Travelling with Students Does the thought of taking 30 or more students to New York or London sound exciting or like a nightmare? At some point in every teacher’s life where they are faced with the daunting task of planning a trip. Where do you start? How do you avoid issues?  Lisa Houston is a pro at traveling with students. In this podcast she gives her tips, tricks, fundraising suggestions for making  your next travel experience smooth sailing. Show Notes WorldStrides Finishing Sentences Episode Transcript Welcome to TFP – The Theatrefolk Podcast – the place to be for Drama teachers, Drama students, and Theatre educators everywhere. I’m Lindsay Price, resident playwright for Theatrefolk. Hello! I hope you're well. Thanks for listening! You have reached Episode 162 and you can find any links to this episode in the show notes which are at Theatrefolk.com/episode162. So, it’s summertime! Everyone is taking it easy! Maybe going to the beach, maybe going camping, doing a little bit of travel. It’s kind of funny because – funny for me, maybe funny for no one else on the planet but – here, at TFolk Global Headquarters, summer is the time when we travel the least. We do it so much for work during the year, and then, if we’re going to choose when we go away for a vacation, it’s going to be in May because May is the month that nobody wants to hear from us or talk to us because everything is winding down. Once June or July, people are starting to get all into their year again. But May? May is dead so it’s perfect for travel. But enough about me. Let’s get into the podcast and the question of the podcast which is: “How do you successfully – without heartburn and heartache – travel with a group of students?” How do you plan and implement trips to, say, New York or London? You want to take your students to New York, to Broadway, to see the sights, see the shows. We have a teacher, Lisa Houston, who is a pro at traveling with students and she is here to give you tips, tricks, and she’s even got a post-trip reflection that students can do. I know! All right, let’s get to it. LINDSAY: All right, I am here with Lisa Houston. Hello, Lisa! LISA: Hi! How are you? LINDSAY: I’m all right. Tell everybody where you are in the world. LISA: I am in Pennington, New Jersey, which is a small town outside of Princeton, New Jersey. We are sort of halfway between New York and Philadelphia. LINDSAY: Ooh! It’s always interesting to me when people say where they are and, in my head, I’m like, “Hmm… I have no idea where that is,” but your visual was perfect. LISA: Good. LINDSAY: How long have you been a teacher? LISA: I have been a teacher… this is my 20th year of being a teacher. I’ve been at Pennington actually all of those years. LINDSAY: Wow! Okay. So, you’re dug in. LISA: I am. I’m here to stay. LINDSAY: Ah, that’s awesome! LISA: Hopefully. LINDSAY: So, what is it about being a teacher, being a Drama teacher that connects to you? LISA: Well, I love creative projects, first of all. You know, doing Drama is always a creative project – whether it’s just something small in class – a small scene or even a page of dialogue. And then, of course, staging shows is a passion of mine. Like, I just love creating worlds and following through with that. LINDSAY: Cool!