Xperitas Experience Archive

This June, The Blake School, an independent high school in Minneapolis, departed for a Mandarin Chinese immersion program with Xperitas. The educational journey was a result of a year of preparation planning between the school’s language department, Xperitas and our partners in Asia to develop a six-week-long program.

Xperitas team members bumped into Jill Gabel, of Fargo, North Dakota, at a recent parent meeting we attended at an area high school. Jill was a high school student participant in a French immersion program thirty years ago with ISE (now Xperitas), and now has two sons in our programs.

During the Spring 2018 travel season (March - May), Xperitas groups traveled to seven different countries for French, German and Spanish language immersion experiences. Overall, it sure sounds like it was a great spring for our language immersion programs!

While many parents speak directly to the positive impacts of their child's cultural and language immersion experience, from things like improved self-confidence to sharpened language and cultural competency skills, many parents also mention that the Xperitas program was a learning experience for their entire family.

Barbara Koester's first travel group started small, with only two students from her school. Now, 31 years later, her travel group has grown to 28 students. We asked her advice for high school language teachers looking to get an immersion program approved, and how to turn that program into a consistent success.

All Spring 2018 language immersion program participants have returned home safely from their trips abroad. As we look forward to the summer travel season, we wanted to take a moment to reflect on the past year, which was one of our best ever!

On this Teacher’s Day, 2018, Xperitas salutes ALL teachers for the crucial role they are playing in developing the young people who will be the decision-makers in our communities for decades to come.  But we especially applaud those teachers that have had the courage and commitment to travel with their students to foreign countries and cultures, each doing their small but vitally important part in creating a generation of young global citizens.

I have been collaborating with Xperitas since 2008 to take my Spanish students overseas, and I cannot imagine working with a more dedicated group of professionals.

Our Xperitas planned school exchange has earned the accolades of students, families, administrations and communities, and the impact and connections reach well beyond the individuals traveling.

Over 20 years and 17 trips later, I can't imagine traveling with anyone else.

Xperitas held our annual Global Leaders Conference in Bloomington from January 26-28. We were joined by about a hundred language teachers from across the United States, all of whom are leading immersion programs abroad in 2018. Many of our international vendors and partners also sent representatives to meet with us and share ideas about traveling abroad with students.

Nicole Weaver, a high school French and Spanish teacher in Denver, is the author of several award-winning trilingual children's books.

We are pleased to announce the winner of our 2018 Xperitas Alumni Scholarship: Lily Hauptman of Ladue Horton Watkins High School in Saint Louis, Missouri.

Due to safety concerns in the aftermath of hurricanes Irma and Maria, we made the decision to cancel our Puerto Rican programs planned for 2018. The students from the canceled groups were disappointed, but many were determined to help. Read how they took action.

Cara Meyer was the recipient of our 2017 Alumni Scholarship. Cara traveled to France and Germany with Xperitas in 2016. Recently, we caught up with Cara, who reflected fondly upon what her Xperitas program, and the scholarship, has meant for her future.

We are excited to announce that Leslie Gale became the new Executive Director of Xperitas on November 6. Learn more about her plans for Xperitas here!

All 2017 language immersion program participants have returned home safely from their trips abroad. As we look forward to 2018 and begin planning next year’s programs, we wanted to take a moment to reflect on the past year, which was one of our best ever!

Our 2017 spring travelers have returned! As your child prepares to depart, read reviews of what these travelers had to say about their family stay experience abroad and the lifelong connections they made.

When we prepare to travel to a new place, it’s important to dig deep and think about our own home, too. Use this blog as tool to reflect on what it means to be American. 

At this year's Global Leaders Conference in January, Xperitas launched the Educator Advisory Council (EAC) to discuss items that will help Xperitas enhance its existing programs and processes. The long-term goal of the council is to partner with teachers on an ongoing basis to get a pulse on current issues and challenges facing the field of education.

Welcome to our Alumni Story Series, where we share what our alumni are doing post-travel and how their experience has influenced their lives.

As a parent, you want to ensure your child’s family stay abroad will be safe, fun and life-changing in all the right ways. Jackie, parent of Sophia, a past France program participant, told us how attitude made the biggest impact on her daughter’s experience.

As a parent, you want to ensure your child’s family stay abroad will be safe, fun and life-changing in all the right ways. Jackie, parent of Sophia, a past France program participant, told us how attitude made the biggest impact on her daughter’s experience.

Preparing for your trip this summer? Read about a past participant's experience to learn 10 travel tips to know before you go!