As schools close for the summer, many families plan to travel, but in some districts, students have been touring all year – dropping in on classes worldwide. Sandy Hausman has that story.
Fifth graders at Stone Robinson Elementary School in Albemarle County practiced for weeks before performing during a Skype call to the Chapel School in Sao Paolo. They also studied Brazil and learned a few words of Portuguese.
"Hello is oy, and goodbye is ciao," said Julia Hutter.
But to their surprise, counterparts in Brazil spoke excellent English, and they used it to ask surprising questions according to music teacher John Visel.
"The Brazilian 5th graders wanted to know who we wanted to be president in the U.S.," Visel recalls. "The fact that 10-year-olds are keeping track of elections in the United States + is a big eye opener."
Visel has also arranged trips to Hungary, Germany and Albania.
"The Skype company itself has an initiative they call Skype Classroom," Visel explains. "It’s totally devoted to linking up schools with other schools around the world that want to Skype together."
During those calls, students asked questions about their holidays, their sports, what their summer plans were and what foods they liked. The wondered about their counterparts' favorite instruments and songs.
Colton Fox was aware that Brazilians call soccer "football," but he wasn't sure if they knew about American football.
Lauren Eck was pleased to hear that Brazilian children look forward to the annual celebration known as Carnivale. "I love Carnivale," she said. "I’ve heard about it. I’ve seen it on TV and in the movie Rio."
And they discovered a couple of universal passions – soccer and desserts made with chocolate.
For Visel, the Skype visits are a rare opportunity to see what other teachers are up to.
"The thing that’s fun for me is just getting to see inside the classrooms of other music teachers," he says. " For many elementary school music teachers in the United States, there’s only one of us per school, and it can be kind of isolating."
And teachers are using Skype to connect their students with experts on various topics around the world.