By Cora Saddler, Communications Associate
At 8 a.m., kindergarten students lined up outside Port Everglades, passports in hand, eager to board the Saints of the Sea for a two-day cruise excursion to the Bahamas, with stops in CocoCay and Nassau. It’s the perfect school getaway, but there’s a twist.
The Saints of the Sea isn’t real. It’s an imaginary cruise ship invented by kindergarten teacher, traveler, and Concordia University Chicago alumna Trisha DePasquale (BA ’07), whose viral lesson on the Bahamas earned her and her class a very real once-in-a-lifetime field trip from Royal Caribbean Cruises.
Known for her travel-inspired lessons, DePasquale has turned her classroom into a passport to the world. Flying to China, riding camels around the Giza pyramids, watching the Northern Lights, and backpacking in New Zealand—it all takes place within the walls of Our Savior Lutheran Church and School (OSL) in Plantation, Fla.
More recently, her lesson on the Bahamas turned her classroom into a cruise ship—complete with a security checkpoint, inflatable pool deck, Windjammer Café, and ice cream station.
All this was captured on DePasquale’s Instagram, which reaches more than 100K followers. It also caught the attention of Royal Caribbean, which invited DePasquale and her students to tour its Icon of the Seas, one of the largest cruise ships in the world. On board, her students were treated to surprise performances, a volcano-making session in the science lab, and had time to explore, eat, and play around the ship’s iconic neighborhoods.
“I was blown away by everything that Royal Caribbean did,” said DePasquale, who was also gifted a seven-night cruise to the Bahamas. “It wasn’t even just my students. It was every child that was a part of our group—so siblings and cousins, too.”
“When we learned about the creativity and dedication DePasquale brings to her classroom, we were incredibly inspired,” said Kara Wallace, chief marketing officer for Royal Caribbean.
Wallace added, “Her commitment to creating meaningful, memorable experiences reflects the profound impact great educators have on their students. There was no better way to recognize DePasquale’s class than by bringing the adventure they imagined in the classroom to life on Icon of the Seas.”
Long before her classroom set sail, DePasquale was inspired by her own travel adventures as a Concordia-Chicago student. Through her program, she completed her teaching practicum at Concordia International School Shanghai.
“I had students from all over the world,” said DePasquale, who taught first grade, second grade, and preschool in China. “Conversations about time zones, jet lag, and passports were a common occurrence for them. Why couldn’t I have similar conversations with kids in the United States? How can I teach them about big world ideas?”
For DePasquale, that looks like her Passport Adventure program, which offers immersive, travel-themed lessons that pull from her personal experiences in more than 53 countries. For her students, that looks like a mock passport book they receive at the beginning of the year. Every Friday, they travel somewhere new and get a stamp. By the end of the year, her class will visit more than 40 countries.
“Trisha inspires wonder and curiosity in her kindergartners with her creative, thoughtful, and energetic lessons,” said Kristin Becker, a middle school teacher at OSL and one of DePasquale’s coworkers.
Becker, who has seen DePasquale’s students visiting Easter Island or backpacking to Machu Picchu, explained, “There is no way I could miss their enthusiasm for learning about the world God created! I am blessed to work with someone who has taken her passion for travel and turned it into inspirational lessons about landmarks, landforms, cultures, connections, cuisine, and more.”
Even with the school year underway, DePasquale already has travel plans. In October, she plans to run the Dublin Marathon in Ireland with the Boomer Esiason Foundation to raise awareness for those with cystic fibrosis. In November, she’s headed to the Bahamas, and during the summer, she hopes to gather inspiration for a safari-themed lesson.
Though her travels may take her far away, DePasquale is never too far from the classroom. Underlying all her adventures is her commitment to teaching, guided by a motto that she carries into every destination, lesson, and passport stamp her students collect.
“The sooner we teach kids about the world, the longer they can care for it,” said DePasquale, who hopes that her lessons inspire the next generation to step into the world with empathy, curiosity, and a heart for learning.
It’s an effort that hasn’t gone unnoticed.
“DePasquale showcases how a love for teaching, combined with remarkable creativity and energy, can transform ordinary school days into unforgettable experiences,” said Dr. Maja Miskovic, dean of the College of Education. “Her imaginative teaching sparked a chain reaction of joy and wonder that her students will never forget.”
Share this article
