Phoenix Teacher Turns Students Into World Travelers Through Distance Learning

PHOENIX, NY – While many travel plans were hampered in recent years, the pandemic hasn’t stopped Emerson J. Dillon Middle School teacher Jim Cassella and his students from “traveling the globe.”

Since the 2018-19 school year, Cassella’s fifth-grade classes have made 27 stops as part of a virtual learning initiative that links Phoenix students with their peers around the world. The remote connections are facilitated through the CiTi Distance Learning program and offer students a glimpse into classrooms in other cities, states and countries.

According to Kristin Edwards, CiTi’s Distance Learning specialist, Cassella has been at the forefront of these opportunities, which have provided his students with Zoom connections to classrooms across the U.S. and in countries such as Norway and Hungary.

“We always start by playing Geography 20 Questions,” Edwards said. “Students ask ‘yes’ or ‘no’ questions of one another until they find each other’s location. Then, time permitting, the classes also always just simply converse — as children, as humans. It’s magical.”

The conversations also spark an interest in global events, and Cassella encourages his students to ask questions that provide them with a greater insight into the world around them. Recently, when the opportunity arose to make a potential connection with Russia, Cassella saw a chance for a greater lesson in humanity.

“Hopefully this will produce even more empathy for humanity than we could ever hope for from a regular year,” Cassella said. “When my students see they’re just beautiful young people who are trying to have a good life, they might shift away from the negative generalizations about Russians.”

Whether the connections are tied to current events or simply pair one geographic region with another, the students always have an experience and memories to take away from their virtual travel opportunity. Those memories stem from the teacher who leads the lesson and embraces the distance learning initiative, Edwards said.

“Jim believes in not only teaching his children academically, but he believes in supporting them socially too,” she said. “His calling — not job, but calling — is to be an educator. I really cannot say enough about this man as an educator and as a human being. He turns the globe into his classroom, and it leaves a lasting impact on his students.”

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