![\"Phil\"](\"http:\/\/www.explorica.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Phil.jpg\")
Meet Phil Cassidy, a history\u00a0and band teacher for grades\u00a09\u201312. He\u00a0has 22 years of\u00a0teaching experience and has\u00a0led seven tours with Explorica,\u00a0with two more in the works.\u00a0Phil served in the Canadian\u00a0infantry for eight years\u2014one\u00a0of the many reasons he\u00a0believes in the importance\u00a0of connecting students with\u00a0Canada\u2019s military history.<\/p>\n
Has your military experience\u00a0shaped how you teach\u00a0Canadian history to your\u00a0students?\u00a0<\/strong>Absolutely. I served as a bandsman in\u00a0the West Nova Scotia Regiment for eight\u00a0years. Everybody had the same basic\u00a0training and I later received combat leadership\u00a0training, but as a bandsman I also\u00a0got to be a part of the ceremonial duties\u00a0that are deeply rooted in the history of\u00a0the armed forces. So my service not only\u00a0taught me how to be part of a team and\u00a0how to find stamina and strength in\u00a0myself; it also gave me an even deeper\u00a0appreciation for the sacrifices of the\u00a0men and women who came before me,\u00a0and how important it is to honour their\u00a0sacrifices. As a teacher, that\u2019s what I try\u00a0to impart upon my students.<\/p>\n Why do you think teachers\u00a0should lead educational\u00a0tours?\u00a0<\/strong>Educational travel brings a realism to\u00a0the lesson that doesn\u2019t happen when\u00a0reading facts in a textbook. You can\u2019t\u00a0get the same level of understanding any\u00a0other way\u2014being there gives purpose\u00a0and meaning to the history. Being there\u00a0makes it important.\u00a0When we come back from a tour, the\u00a0enthusiasm my students carry with\u00a0them is contagious. I can practically see\u00a0the ripples of energy they create flow\u00a0throughout the entire school. They get\u00a0the other students excited about what\u00a0they saw and what they learned. For\u00a0me, this is huge; the past is alive in my\u00a0students and that is what being a history\u00a0teacher is all about.<\/p>\n What advice do you have\u00a0for teachers planning a\u00a0commemorative tour?\u00a0<\/strong>Make sure you build group camaraderie\u00a0before you leave. These tours can be\u00a0emotional at times, and it\u2019s important\u00a0that students feel comfortable with each\u00a0other and with you so they can get the\u00a0most out of the experience.\u00a0I organize a few pot-luck dinners and\u00a0have the students give presentations\u00a0about a place or activity on the itinerary.\u00a0They get important background\u00a0information on where we are going\u00a0and a chance to get to know the people\u00a0they are travelling with, including me.\u00a0After we return from tour we have\u00a0a wrap-up dinner to talk about our\u00a0favourite moments and memories.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0a nice way to keep the positive group\u00a0dynamic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Meet Phil Cassidy, a history\u00a0and band teacher for grades\u00a09\u201312. He\u00a0has 22 years of\u00a0teaching experience and has\u00a0led seven tours with Explorica,\u00a0with two more in the works.\u00a0Phil served in the Canadian\u00a0infantry for eight years\u2014one\u00a0of the many reasons he\u00a0believes in the importance\u00a0of connecting students with\u00a0Canada\u2019s military history. Has your military experience\u00a0shaped how you teach\u00a0Canadian history to your\u00a0students?\u00a0Absolutely. I Read More …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[81,121,331,332,209,378,382,238,58,60,59,128,86,172,12,377,371,357,338],"class_list":["post-3279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-explorica-news","tag-canada","tag-canada-day","tag-canadian-history","tag-canadian-history-tours","tag-canadian-war-history","tag-commemorative-tours","tag-d-day","tag-educational-tours","tag-educational-travel","tag-explorica","tag-student-tours","tag-student-travel","tag-student-trips","tag-teachers","tag-travel-tips","tag-war-history","tag-world-war-1","tag-world-war-i","tag-world-war-ii"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3279"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3279\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3297,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3279\/revisions\/3297"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Explorica](\"http:\/\/www.explorica.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Explorica-student-at-Bretville-Sure-Laize.png\")
What is the most memorable\u00a0experience from your past\u00a0Explorica tours?\u00a0<\/strong>There have been so many moments that\u00a0shape a tour, and every tour is different.\u00a0One of the first that comes to mind is\u00a0when I took a group of students to Tyne\u00a0Cot National Cemetery in Belgium. My\u00a0goal for these history tours is to bring\u00a0students in touch with the sacrifice and\u00a0young age of the soldiers who fought for\u00a0us. The first time you see the rows\u00a0of seemingly endless headstones it can\u00a0be pretty overwhelming. Experiencing\u00a0that moment with my students and\u00a0seeing the magnitude of what happened\u00a0sink into their understanding was\u00a0certainly remarkable.<\/p>\n