Parent meeting for parents interested in student study abroad trip

The Ponca City Senior High School English department is holding a meeting for parents about a student trip to London and Rome.

The parent meeting is Thursday in the Po-Hi Commons at 6 p.m.

The School Board said It will be a 10-day trip in January 2016.

All Po-Hi students in ninth through 12th grade at the time are eligible.

That’s this years seventh through 10th graders.

Parents can also sign-up to go as chaperones.

The trip will offer students the opportunity to expand their understanding of relevant literature by placing it within geographic and historical context.

They will also conduct research while incorporating various technological elements.

Trip sponsors will facilitate fundraising for the travel of participants based on the level of need or desire.

There are also flexible payment plans.

No district funds will be spent, with the possible exception of substitute pay for the teacher sponsors.

"This once-in-a-lifetime opportunity is one that we are making sure meets the educational needs of our students at Po-Hi, while simultaneously giving them a leg-up on experiencing global communication," said Tara Woodmansee, Po-Hi English teacher. "While the students are visiting significant literary locations in England and Rome, they will be working with a research group back home in real-time using their school laptops, collaborating with people who are still at home through the use of Google Drive, Google sites, Skype, e-mail, YouTube and several other technologies available to them. They will be analyzing literature at their own grade level from a historical and geographical perspective in order to add a depth of understanding that we could not have otherwise provided. Our students will then come home and finish creating their own website to present their in depth literary analysis to a global audience."