Next month, Kathy Millar is taking seventh and eighth graders to Cambodia.

by Janet Hurley . photo by Matt Rose

Kathy Millar can’t wait to see her students’ faces when they walk through a marketplace in Siem Reap, Cambodia, or a temple in Angkor. “The trajectory of their lives will be changed,” says Millar, who teaches language arts to seventh and eighth graders at Asheville’s Evergreen Community Charter School. “There’s so much learning about the world that just can’t come from a book.”

Next month, Millar, 44, and fellow Evergreen teacher Jason Carter will lead six of their students around Cambodia for ten days through PEPY Tours, a unique educational tour company with the motto: “adventurous living, responsible giving.” (PEPY stands for Protect the Earth, Protect Yourself.)

Evergreen has always had an expeditionary learning model and environmental education focus. That’s what inspired Millar, in 2009, to move from Utah for her current position. A Michigan native, Millar had spent the previous ten years teaching in similarly progressive schools, where she started campaigns for causes like cancer research. Last year, she started a similar program at Evergreen, Hope for Kenya. Students learn about clean water issues in the African nation and raised some $3,000 to support new well construction.

Since 2005, with teacher education and state department grants, Millar has traveled and studied in Europe, Bangladesh, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua and, last summer, Cambodia, where the seed for the upcoming trip was planted. “My Evergreen students are already thinking deeply and critically,” Millar says. “I knew they were ready to make the trip.”

For practical reasons, the trip isn’t sponsored or funded by Evergreen. And rounding up funding for Cambodia has been challenging, with the cost per person at around $2,500. Students have been fundraising since last fall, with events like last month’s Orange Peel concert featuring Asheville’s Skinny Legs and All and the EMBE Marimba Band. They’ve also built a website to take donations. At press time, they’d raised about half of their $9,000 goal. Millar is not only donating her own time and money to lead the trip, but she’s also meeting with students every week to prepare them. She’s excited about her first opportunity to lead young people in international exploration. “It’s been really neat to see how supportive the students are of each other,” Millar says. “Their adventure has already begun.”

To donate to the students’ Quest for Cambodia, go to www.sites.google.com/site/questforcambodia