The Patterson-Strauss Travel Grant: Funding Bucket List Adventures & Memories to Last a Lifetime

The Patterson-Strauss Travel Grant was created to fund enriching and rejuvenating travel experiences for our veteran faculty. To date, 37 Country Day faculty have been awarded this grant. With a combined service of 57 years, third-grade teachers Terri Sears and Ann Gardner have each dedicated nearly three decades to enriching our school community through their generous and inspiring teaching. This year, they were honored as the 2024 recipients of the prestigious Patterson-Strauss Travel Grant, which celebrates the legacy of long-time CCDS faculty members Bob Patterson and Tony Strauss.

What motivated you to apply for this grant?

Terri Sears: My dad – he is 87 years old, and going to Sicily, Italy was a bucket list adventure I felt I could check off for and with him. Until the early 1900s, my family resided in a small fishing village on the island, called Termini Imerese, and I had always hoped to visit. My dad has been to Sicily before but didn’t get to truly experience the island, and because of this grant we could experience it together.
Ann Gardner: I have traveled with my mom every summer, and I saw this as a great way to continue that tradition. We – myself, my mom, my cousin, and my aunt – always wanted to travel together to a place where none of us had been. I thought of doing a Danube River cruise because my mom had never been on a river cruise and had never been to many of the places we would see along the way.

What inspired you most about this experience?

TS: The history! Sicily is one of those places that has been fought over so much and has had so many different ruling governments. For example, the cathedral in Palermo is a visual example of the island’s diverse history. It was built using five kinds of architecture because of how long it took to build and the different ruling parties that “owned” the island throughout the cathedral’s construction.
AG: When you go somewhere new and see new things, you look at your own life differently. You realize how big the world is. You realize that there are so many nice people out there in the world. You meet people and find things in common with them that you wouldn’t expect.

What were you able to bring back and incorporate into your classroom?

TS: I’ve shared a lot of my travel stories with my students and have incorporated a lot into the classroom already. Like when we were covering the book I Survived the Eruption of Mount St. Helens, I was able to draw on the correlation between Mt. Etna and Mt. Saint Helens. I told them about how, when I visited Mt. Etna, it was rumbling and smoking, and then it erupted four days later. And then we have a field trip to Fort Ancient, which recently became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. One of the temples we visited in the Valley of the Temples in Sicily was the basis for the UNESCO World Heritage Site emblem. Bringing in these different connections for students helps foster a deeper understanding of and engagement with the material, as well as a curiosity about the world around them.
AG: The trip was like hitting a refresh button. I am always sharing stories from my travels with my students and really try to use that new perspective to help enrich their learning experience.

Can you tell me about a meaningful experience you had during the trip?

TS: My dad wanted to go to a specific winery, and I was able to make that happen. He also wanted to experience olive oil production, so we took a tour of the olive groves and got to go to the owner’s grandparents’ house, where they had tanks of olive oil and invited us to sample some of their personal reserves. The most meaningful part of the whole day for me, though, was when my dad told me that the experiences of the day brought him back to when he was a young kid with his grandparents.
AG: I enjoyed the scenery and symphony experience very much, but something else I found stuck with me was an interaction with a gentleman at JFK [John F. Kennedy International Airport]. He worked in airport transportation; it was his day off, so he wasn’t even supposed to be there, but he stepped in to help and was more than happy to do so. He was just the friendliest guy, talking to everyone that crossed his path as if they were old friends. He made what could have been a negative experience one of my most memorable of the entire trip.

What was one of your favorite memories from your trip?

TS: It is so hard to choose just one because we were there for 11 days! One memory that stands out to me would be when a stranger went above and beyond in the most unexpected way. My dad has health conditions that prevent him from being as mobile as he would like to be. The second night of the trip, he was tired from all the walking and traveling we had done. Our B&B was on the third floor and by the time we got up there, he had decided he would rather stay in for dinner. I found this small place nearby and asked if they could do takeaway and they initially said no, but then I explained the situation about my dad, so they agreed. When I went to pick up the food, the owner was the sweetest man, who told me all about what he had made and how he had thrown in extra stuff for free. When I got back to our B&B, I looked up the restaurant and learned they had only been open two months, they don’t do takeaway, and that the chef was a contestant on MasterChef Italy!
AG: All of them! There are so many memories to choose from and they are all so different. One thing I really liked was how neat and tidy the little towns were. The visuals were another favorite of mine – the architecture, the store fronts, the huge cathedrals, the big buildings, the cobblestone walks; it was all so beautiful and full of history.

Why do you feel it’s important for teachers to have this opportunity?

TS: I would never have spent the money on myself for a trip like this. The grant was the motivation I needed to make it happen. I am grateful the school gave me the chance to have an experience that I wouldn’t have been able to have otherwise.
AG: A trip like this can be such a positive experience that becomes a part of who you are. You get a new perspective on life and how you view it. And then you get to come back to the classroom recharged and eager to share your experiences with the students.