PROFILES
Building Connections Around the World
From Peru to Japan, Justin Trinh-Halperin takes his students across the globe. The middle school math and science teacher at Bullis Charter School in Los Altos, California was a top finalist in 2025’s Traveling Teacher of the Year, thanks to years of efforts showing...
Students Speak: Slowing Down & Soaking Up Life
In the quiet of dawn, as soft light fell across the swaying coconut palms, I realized it was not just another destination, but an open invitation to see life through a different lens. What truly moved me wasn’t the postcard-perfect landscapes, but the sense of...
Tami and Todd Rogers: Second-Generation Student Travel Planners
“Amazing teachers inspire us to dream beyond what we can see. But we didn’t just have a teacher, we had our dad.” – Tami Rogers Siblings Tami and Todd Rogers have both music and travel in their blood. The two spent their early years watching their dad pour his heart...
Students Speak: Confronting Trauma Through Travel
Written by Isabella Kearns, 16 years old, a junior from Selden, New York, for the World Is A Classroom student essay contest. My favorite trip was the Bundy Museum of History and Art in New York City. It was an experience that not only deepened my understanding of the...
Marching Beyond Borders: How Travel Transforms Longmont High’s Band
David Merrill is a band director at Longmont High School in Longmont, Colorado. Merrill travels with his band every other year, usually alternating between a “theme park” destination like Los Angeles or Orlando, and a more cultural oriented location such as New...
From the Classroom to the World: E. Dominic Black’s Excellent Adventure
I’ll admit that when I first found out I’d be chatting with E. Dominic Black, an art teacher at San Dimas High School in San Dimas, California, I knew I was going to have to muster some will to not make a clichéd Bill & Ted reference. But, as soon as Mr. Black...