Alexandria Daniel

Alexandria Daniel is an English language arts teacher at Bryan Station Middle School in Lexington, Kentucky.

When Daniel started teaching, she was gifted the Drama program. During this time, she taught students about Ancient Rome and its connection to drama. She wanted this to come to life for her students, so her first trip, in her first year teaching, was one she organized for students to travel to Greece and Italy.

From the Nominator:

What qualities make this nominee deserving of this award?

Alexandria is dedicated to travel and the profession. She believes the only way students learn is by seeing and doing, which is what makes her so deserving of this award. She is in her seventh year teaching. All seven years, she has organized international trips abroad for students and families to several different locations. Now, she is organizing a trip for her school where students travel to Costa Rica to work on speaking in Spanish (as her current school is dual language immersion) as well as interact with the culture to learn more about themselves and others. She is always thinking of her students and families and how to connect them with the world around them.

From Alexandria Daniel:

Why are you passionate about student travel?

I am passionate about student travel because traveling opens their eyes to the things we read about in class. It expands their horizons past what they know and encourages them to develop a love for learning through travel.

What is a major highlight from any of your student travel experiences?

I had one student who was extremely homesick when we first left to go abroad. I wasn’t sure if she had ever been away from family or out of the country before. Once we arrived in our destination (New Zealand), she was transformed. She took charge and became a leader of the group and exclaimed, “I could live here.” Being able to see the transformation of nervous and anxious behavior to someone with confidence to travel and interact on her own reminds me why I began traveling with students in the first place.

What is the greatest lesson you or your students have learned from your trips?

One of the greatest lessons my students learn from their trips is how we can embrace the differences of other cultures and benefit from experiencing them. Oftentimes, we view travel as an “exotic” experience only meant for upper-class citizens, but students realize it is meant for everyone and we can learn more from those around us than only in our own bubble.

How do you try to tie your travel experiences back into the classroom?

When given the opportunities, I share my experiences with students with real-life footage and photographs to connect to the experiences in class. For example, when we talk about Ancient Rome, I share photos of my travel in Italy and customs associated with this period. This shows students these experiences and places are REAL, not just what we see in a book.

Photo courtesy of Alexandria Daniel.