Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/1035650
teacher at Pioneer Valley High School in Santa Maria. " My h u s b a n d a n d I a c c o m p a n i e d the school's advanced choir to France, I t a l y a n d S w i t z e r l a n d ," s a y s D a v i s . " T h e s t u d e n t s w e r e g i f t e d s i n g e r s . In e v e r y c ity, th e y f o u n d a g o rge o u s c a t h e d ra l , c h u r c h , p l a z a o r h i st o r i c site and asked for permission to sing a madrigal or two. When they lifted their voices in the baptistry of the Duomo in Florence it truly was angelic. Later, in the Florence countryside, the kids dis- covered firef lies. The joy and wonder on th eir faces as th ey danced among the little lighted creatures was some- thing we' ll never forget." Mo s t s t u d e n t s o n t h a t t r i p w e r e low-income and English learners, recalls the Santa Maria Joint Union High School District Faculty Association member. Most had never flown on an airplane and some had never seen the ocean, despite living 15 miles away. But they f lew to Europe and discovered the world. It didn't go perfectly: Some students couldn't push their way out of a Paris subway Above, Larry Hooper took his Los Alamitos High School students to Tuscany last year, where they got to make their own gnocchi. At left, Kelly Davis and her students from Pioneer Valley High School in Santa Maria visit the Statue of Liberty in 2017. 19 O C T O B E R / N O V E M B E R 2 018 With Students