Two Franklin teachers are on the verge of a lifelong goal: traveling together to all seven continents.
This summer, Franklin Community High School Social Studies Teacher Kat Sarles and Creekside Elementary first grade teacher Sarah Records will travel to the South Pacific, setting foot in Fiji, New Zealand and Australia.
When they reach Australia, they will have been to all seven continents, traveling together for the past decade through a strong friendship that extends beyond the classroom.
Their trip is funded by a Lilly Endowment Teacher Creativity Fellowship that awarded them $12,000 each.
The six-week journey will kick off with 10 days in New Zealand, as the teachers visit the country’s north and south islands. The teachers will then travel to Australia, spending four days in Sydney before heading to Ayer’s Rock and Alice Springs via rail. After seeing northeastern Australia and the Great Barrier Reef, the two will fly to Fiji for an eight-day cruise, after which they will head to Brisbane, Australia before flying home, Records said.
“I think the biggest thing for me, for both of us, we have been traveling a lot,” Records said. “It’s something the two of us have been doing together for 10 years. The trip is a culmination of a bucket list item of both of ours to visit seven continents. This is the final continent. Being able to accomplish that and visit seven and spend time taking pictures, digitally recording and having experiences is huge and something not a lot of people can say they’ve done.”
The Lilly Fellowship is awarded annually to no more than 100 applicants. This year, they were picked among a pool of about 500, Sarles said.
“The fellowship enables educators to pursue their dreams and passions, explore new areas of interest, plus expand and develop new and existing talents,” Lilly’s description for the fellowship reads. “Renewal times are not vacations but opportunities for intentional exploration and reflection that will result in renewed energy, enthusiasm and creativity in teachers and thereby in classrooms and schools.”
The trip will contribute to the enrichment of lesson plans, as various government systems, cultures, geography and animals seen during the trip relate to the high school social studies curriculum, Sarles said.
Records also brings her trips with her to the classroom to make lessons more interesting, Creekside Elementary Principal Mark Heiden said.
“Sarah, through all her past travels has brought in everything from information, pictures, videos,” Heiden said. “The classroom does passports, they travel the country and the world from the comfort of the classroom. It brings first-person experiences into the classroom.”
Records said she hopes the inclusion of what she experienced abroad in her classes not only helps students grasp concepts related to those experiences, but also inspires them to travel and experience new cultures for themselves.
“Sharing with them about the real things I saw and I did makes it more meaningful for them and maybe they’ll be invested and interested in things on their own,” Records said. “My goal for them is to travel or (be) a foreign exchange student and travel abroad and study abroad.”
