Picture It: Costa Rica, May 2019

Costa Rica Volcano
Credit: Kevin - stock.adobe.com

ALTOONA, Pa. — This May, more than a dozen Penn State Altoona students will move their classroom to Costa Rica, and there is still room for you to join them!

For nine days beginning May 8, students will explore the epic landscape that is the “Rich Coast.” By visiting places such as the Santa Elena Cloud Forest, Póas Volcano, Caño Negro Wildlife Refuge, Arenal Hot Springs, and a coffee plantation, students will learn about the country’s people, heritage, and ecosystem. In the process they will earn academic credit for Spanish 297 or Agriculture 297.

Assistant Teaching Professor of Spanish Kitty Musset says students studying Spanish will improve their basic command of the language, learn about regional differences, and improve their fluency and cultural awareness. Food production and how the environment impacts food supply and other quality of life issues are on the syllabus for agriculture students according to Gail Good, assistant teaching professor of agriculture.

All students, Musset and Good say, will gain a deeper awareness, “that we are a global community.”