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This teacher needs your help!

Ms. Catlin from Chicago, IL is requesting a class trip through DonorsChoose, the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.

See what Ms. Catlin is requesting
Student-led project

3 Countries 3 Climbs: City Kids Take on the UK

We need funds to help cover airfare and lodging expenses, especially for the students who need financial assistance.

  • $1,469 goal

Hooray! This project is fully funded

Hooray! This project is fully funded

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About My Students

My students are high school juniors and seniors from a diverse range of socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds. Each member of our group was selected for this trip after an extensive written application without consideration of their ability to contribute to the trip’s fees. For many, this is the first time traveling overseas.

The students selected for our trip to England, Scotland, and Ireland are diligent, creative, and energetic. Each has a passion for the arts or literature and an interest in leaving our metropolitan surroundings to engage with the ecosystems and environments of these countries in a meaningful manner.

During our time preparing for the trip, my students are organizing presentations and leading class discussions during which they analyze poetry and learn about the environments they will be encountering. Through these student-led lessons, they discover the world of the past and how it connects to the pastoral environment we will be immersed in. This trip will give our students the opportunity to bring these great works of art and literature to life while developing a firsthand connection with the inspiration of the Romantic era: nature.

This trip is an incredible opportunity for my students to strengthen their determination and teamwork skills and to broaden their worldview on top of building the very practical skills of fundraising, giving presentations, and reflecting on personal experience. They will be leading their own lessons in class to provide context on both the Romanticism and pastoral aspects of our trip, and they will reflect on the impact of this unique experience throughout the trip and when we return home. The physical strain of the hikes themselves will be a great lesson in determination, but even more so will the frustrating and sometimes fruitless efforts of fundraising. The students will learn and grow together as they read Romantic poetry, create and share their own Romantic works on the peaks of the world, and organize their efforts to make this excursion possible.

In Their Own Words

Our goal is to send 24 inner-city students along with four teachers on a 12 day exploration of England, Ireland, and Scotland. On this trip, we will be immersing ourselves in the highlands of Scotland, the countryside of Ireland, the Lake District of England, and hiking a total of three mountains: Ben Nevis, Croagh Patrick, and The Old Man Coniston. Along with this exposure to breathtaking nature and physically challenging terrain, we will also be challenging ourselves artistically through reading and creating Romantic literature, poetry, and visual art. This will be fostered by our year-long study of Romantic literature and art from the region.

Over the course of this school year, our group will meet bi-weekly to prepare for our trip on top of our time spent fundraising. These ninety-minute meetings involve learning about the landscapes that we will traverse, reading romantic-era poetry and literature, getting physically ready for hiking, and planning logistics and fundraising. Our meetings and fundraisers, such as this DonorsChoose.org project, are largely student-led. This lends to the development of our collaboration and team-building skills as we work to meet our collective goals and to make sure everyone is ready for our journey.

We are a part of a major public school system in a metropolitan city. Many of us have lived our whole lives within the bustle of city life. Light pollution from office lights in skyscrapers has replaced the stars in the night sky. While this provides incredible opportunities in terms of our education, we have had little exposure to the natural beauty that remains in our modern world. This prevents us from truly understanding the works of great romantic period authors and poets, as there is heavy focus on the wonders of nature and the pastoral in works from this era.

Hiking three great mountains in the United Kingdom is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and will give us a true appreciation of nature. Our hope is that this exposure will inspire our future work to conserve our natural world and protect the Earth’s environment. The intersection of this exposure with the appreciation of romantic literature is an incredibly unique educational opportunity.

Ms. Catlin Walter Payton College Preparatory High School Grades 9-12

More about Ms. Catlin

Chicago, IL View local requests

More than half of students from low‑income households Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more

24 students impacted 16donors

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Where Your Donation Goes

Where your donation goes
Component Company Total
Transportation Exotic Journeys $1,200.00

Trip cost

$1,200.00

Vendor shipping charges

 FREE

Sales tax

 $0.00

3rd party payment processing fee

$18.00

Fulfillment labor & materials

$30.00

Total project cost

$1,248.00

Suggested donation to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

$220.24

Total project goal

$1,468.24

How we calculate what's needed

Total project goal

 $1,468.24

15 Donors

-$1,400.00

Donations toward project cost

-$1,208.75

Donations to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

-$191.25

match offer

-$46.18

Match offer toward project cost

-$39.25

Match offer to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

-$6.93

Excluded support for DonorsChoose

-$22.06

Still needed View calculationHide calculation

 $0.00

Our team works hard to negotiate the best pricing and selections available.

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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Ms. Catlin and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.

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