Spanish teacher Katie Hook had an opportunity of a lifetime last November, when she and other teachers from around the U.S. traveled to Costa Rica with the Toyota International Teachers Program. Arriving back in Rhode Island, Hook knew while she couldn’t literally take her Cole Middle students to Central America, she’d do the next best thing: bring it to East Greenwich.

On Monday, Hook and her students will present "Costa Rica Night" at Cole.

for the past two months, her sixth, seventh and eighth grade students have been learning about different aspects of Costa Rica. First, there were the numerous videos Hook shot during her travels (with a school-owned iPad she got to use). Those videos helped her students walk in her footsteps, as it were. Among her experiences, Hook visited a banana plantation at EARTH University in Guacimo, saw how chocolate goes from bean to bar at Tirimbina and worked with Costa Rican high school students to eradicate invasive coffee trees in Selva Verde.

For Costa Rica Night, visitors will be given a sheet of paper with questions. The idea is to get the answers from all the students, who will be standing with their projects — on the coffee bean, or vanilla, for instance. Those people who turn in their completed sheets will be entered into a raffle. Whole Foods is donating goodie bags for the winners.

Work on the project has been done during class and after school. In addition to the group projects, many students — the whole school was invited in participate — have stayed after school to bake Costa Rican desserts for the evening. For students, the hands-on approach has been very worthwhile.

“It’s good because it’s easier to learn about then just sitting in a desk memorizing,” said Lauren Keenan. “We actually get to look it up. We have to find the information ourselves.”

“It’s just a cool way to see how people live,” said Katie Levan. “You don’t see how other cultures do stuff. It’s cool to learn how people grow things.”

“I think it’s a good project because it’s a better way to learn everything — it stays in my mind longer,” said Reymi Acevedo.

Tickets cost $5 per person and may be purchased at Cole during all lunches and after school or on the evening of the event. All proceeds to benefit The Rainforest Alliance, EARTH University and Heifer U. For more information, you can contact Katie Hook at Cole Middle School: 401-398-1352 or khook@egsd.net.