Cobb school board member Dr. John Crooks and his wife, Cheryl, took 45 Wheeler High School students to Costa Rica to learn about leadership. During the seven-day trip, students visited a volcano, painted a church and participated in other activities.
The mission of IFYL is to train high school students in the art of leadership through various activities. The foundation receives private donations and fees from participants. During the summer, IFYL conducts trips to promote leadership skills and introduce students to different cultures.
The students who returned from the seven-day Costa Rica trip on June 3 are members of the Leadership Club at Wheeler, where Cheryl Crooks is a science teacher.
"We try to create an environment so that students will have a good time," John Crooks said. "In that environment, we challenge them to a theme related to leadership, and we do our training or focus or inspiration around that theme."
High adventure was the theme of the Cost Rica trip. Students participated in whitewater rafting and zip-lining, hiked a volcano, painted a Seventh-day Adventist church, traveled to smalls town and met college students at the University of Georgia's Costa Rica campus.
Each Wheeler student paid $1,500 for the trip, which was a good deal, said senior Sophie Jacobson, 17.
Senior Steffie Slocum, also 17, who has participated in two previous journeys with IFYL, said Costa Rica "was the most knowledgeable trip by far."
"I learned so many things about Costa Rica that I never thought I'd know," Slocum said. "We learned about the people, economy, culture, animals, everything."
Much of the leadership training involved student interaction with those they met, John Crooks said. His daughter, senior Bethany Crooks, 17, and other students were told to contemplate during the trip what pura vida, or in English, pure life, meant. A typical Costa Rican town consists of a soccer field, two churches, an Internet cafe, grocery store and a cell tower, the travelers said.
"As the week went on, we kind of focused on what (pure life) meant and what that meant to us," said Wheeler graduate Taylor Revere, 18, who'll attend the University of North Carolina in the fall.
Cheryl Crooks said the foundation is committed to growing participants.
Her husband said, "When you average out all these years, it's just been a wonderful investment."
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These students and or their parents paid for the trip. If they thought they got a good value then that is between them and Crook's organization.
At a total of $67,500 for one week, for 45 students, I'd say that it was a good investment.