Potential Brooks' Bunch travelers were required to take classes and make presentations
Through his "Brooks' Bunch – Africa 2000" program, Tampa Bay Buccaneers Pro Bowl linebacker Derrick Brooks will accompany 20 members of Tampa and Orlando Boys & Girls Clubs on a 10-day tour of South Africa. The group, which will include Buccaneers Head Coach Tony Dungy and his wife, Lauren, will travel through Africa from June 24 – July 5, visiting Cape Town, Johannesburg and Swaziland.
Since October of 1999, members of the Ponce De Leon, Ybor City and Pine Hills Boys & Girls Clubs who were interested in earning a spot on the trip studied Africa's culture and history during bimonthly workshops taught by Hillsborough and Orange County teachers at the participating Boys & Girls Clubs. To earn a spot on Brooks' African expedition, students were required to write essays, perform various research assignments, create an African travel brochure and present their essays to a panel of judges. All assignments, along with the students' attendance and behavioral marks during the classes, were tabulated and counted towards a final grade for the class. Students who completed their assignments, demonstrated good behavior and maintained their grades in school earned a ticket to South Africa.
While in Africa, the travelers will visit the landmarks they studied in Africa 2000 class, including Cape Point, the Indian Ocean, Table Mountain and the site of Nelson Mandela's imprisonment, Robben Island. They will also visit a penguin colony, see Bushman paintings and tour an authentic gold mine. At the end of the trip, Brooks' Bunch will enjoy a three-day safari at a private safari camp.
"My goal is to give these kids the opportunity to experience life in another part of the world and see things they have never seen," Brooks said. "I want to increase awareness and show them different things that exist outside their neighborhoods. Brooks' Bunch trips are about achieving dreams through education and travel. I want each trip to have a lasting impression on these children."
Brooks sponsors educational field trips annually to reward youth from the Boys & Girls Clubs who have exhibited hard work, good grades and exemplary behavior in school. The "Africa 2000" trip will mark the fourth such trip made by the Brooks' Bunch. Past Brooks' Bunch trips have included tours of Washington, D.C., Atlanta and Ft. Lauderdale.
Click here to view bios on the Brooks' Bunch scholars who are going on the Africa 2000 trip.
