Application Window for 15-16 Travel Opportunities is Open!

Ursuline Academy's Global Education Program is excited to officially open the application window for three travel opportunities for our students this year.  

PERU 2016

In June 2016, we will travel to our sister school Colegio Santa Ursula in Lima, Peru for a week-long exchange.  Throughout the week in Lima, students will have the opportunity to experience life in Peru as an Ursuline student by living with her Peruvian sister and family.  While in Lima, students will attend classes (which will give them a wonderful opportunity to practice their Spanish) and will also be treated to some amazing cultural experiences as hosted by Colegio Santa Ursula. 

After departing Lima, students will have the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to tour Machu Picchu by way of the VistaDome train.  Situated on a mountain ridge above the Sacred Valley, archaeologists believe that Machu Picchu was built as an estate for the Inca emperor Pachacuti (1438–1472).  Machu Picchu was declared a Peruvian Historical Sanctuary in 1981 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983.  In 2007, Machu Picchu was voted one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in a worldwide Internet poll.

Following this 3-day excursion, the delegation will spend a week in Piura, Peru participating in a service project with Santisimo Sacramento Parish.  In 2011, a group of students from Ursuline Academy led by Mrs. Kane-Smith participated in the same program and were forever changed by their experience.  Students will truly have the opportunity to practice our Serviam motto by giving back to some of the poorest communities in South America. 

NEW ORLEANS 2016

In March 2016, a delegation of five students and two faculty from Ursuline Academy in Wilmington will travel to our sister school in New Orleans, Louisiana for a 6-day exchange.  Ursuline Academy of New Orleans, founded in 1727 by twelve Ursuline nuns from France, enjoys the distinction of being both the oldest, continuously-operating school for girls and the oldest Catholic school in the United States.  The opportunity to experience life as an Ursuline student in New Orleans provides our students a wonderful chance to become a part of the community of the first Ursuline school in the United States.  While in New Orleans, students will attend classes and activities with their “sisters” and will have the opportunity to participate in service projects and other cultural outings in unique New Orleans. 

UNITED NATIONS CSW60

Ursuline students will have the opportunity to participate in the United Nations 60th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), which will take place at UN Headquarters in March.  The UN Commission on the Status of Women is the principal world wide body dedicated exclusively to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women. It was established in 1946 by the Economic and Social Council, making the March 2016 session the 60^th time CSW has met.

Students will have the opportunity to hear from women around the world who are engaged in efforts to make life better for women and girls who suffer the effects of poverty, violence and a lack of education. Students who attend the conference will learn ways that they can be in solidarity with women and girls around the world in their search for a better life.  Ursuline Academy of Wilmington will be participating alongside 5 other Ursuline network schools - just another example of how the Ursuline bond grows through cultural exchange and travel.