{"id":135494,"date":"2026-03-11T14:35:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T14:35:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/135494\/"},"modified":"2026-03-11T14:35:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T14:35:10","slug":"philadelphia-students-return-from-trip-of-a-lifetime-to-ghana-i-felt-like-my-ancestors-were-speaking-to-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/135494\/","title":{"rendered":"Philadelphia students return from trip of a lifetime to Ghana: “I felt like my ancestors were speaking to me”"},"content":{"rendered":"

A group of West Philadelphia students is back home after what school leaders call a trip of a lifetime.<\/p>\n

Scholars from Global Leadership Academy recently returned from Ghana, where they spent more than a week learning about culture, history, and connection.<\/p>\n

When the bus pulled in Sunday, parents were waiting with cameras out and arms open, ready to welcome their children home after a journey thousands of miles away from West Philadelphia.<\/p>\n

But school leaders say the biggest takeaway was not what students packed in their suitcases \u2014 it was the memories and lessons they brought back with them.<\/p>\n

“It was a special welcome,” said Dr. Naomi Johnson-Booker, who created the trip to expose students to a world beyond their neighborhood.<\/p>\n

“Each year that we travel with all the scholars and I go on these trips, I am so empowered by them,” Booker said.<\/p>\n

During the trip, students visited Ghana International School, in the country’s capital city, Accra, where many said they formed instant bonds with students there.<\/p>\n

For many seventh and eighth graders, it was their first time traveling outside the country.<\/p>\n

\"philadelphia-students-ghana-trip.jpg<\/p>\n

Global Leadership Academy<\/p>\n

They also visited the “Last Bath,”<\/a> a site tied to the trans-Atlantic slave trade, where captured Africans were forced to wash before being taken to the coastal slave castles.<\/p>\n

For some students, that stop was especially emotional.<\/p>\n

“The moment I stepped my feet into the water, I felt like my ancestors were speaking to me, and telling me their story and what they had to go through,” one student said.<\/p>\n

Students said the journey also gave them a deeper appreciation for home, family, and everyday blessings.<\/p>\n

“Grateful for things my parents give me like shoes or other clothing,” another student said, reflecting on what the experience taught her.<\/p>\n

Along the way, the students built new friendships, learned from local communities, and came home with memories that school leaders say will stay with them for years.<\/p>\n

And according to Booker, the learning does not stop here.<\/p>\n

School leaders say fundraising is already underway for next year’s trip. Up next, sixth graders will head to Atlanta in a few weeks for a civil rights tour.<\/p>\n

\n More from CBS News\n <\/p>\n

In:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A group of West Philadelphia students is back home after what school leaders call a trip of a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":135495,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[31546,55610,28,69,71,70],"class_list":["post-135494","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-africa","tag-ghana","tag-pennsylvania","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135494","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=135494"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135494\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/135495"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=135494"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=135494"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=135494"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}