30th Anniversary History Book

Of note, Beacon in Tuscany is believed to be the first semester-long study abroad program for students with learning differences. Dr. Andrea Brode, coordinator of international programs, recalled how Tuscany was selected. “Dr. Hagerty and I had worked on a project in Prato, a small medieval city about 20 minutes by train from Florence, before we came to Beacon. By train you can get to all the fantastic Renaissance and historical places, including Rome and Pompeii.” During their semester abroad, from early September through November of each year, students live in the Hotel Giardino, a small, family-owned hotel in the center of Prato. Brode leads a team of Beacon faculty members who accompany the students, supplemented by native Tuscan staff familiar with the region and its resources.

“The students take electives and courses related to their majors there,” she said, “and I teach a course called ‘Travel in Tuscany.’” It’s a transformational experience for these students, Brode said. “For most of them, this is their first time [far] away from home.” “We take a huge number of excursions around Tuscany,” she said. “It’s physically arduous – sometimes we walk 10 miles in a day. They see art and history they’ve never thought about.” In addition to hiking along the Bizenio River to the Villa Rucellae in the hills above Prato and sampling Italian food every day for three months, the students take classes in their major, learn rudimentary Italian, visit the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, travel to Rome and Siena, watch documentaries about the Medici, view Italian films, take classes in Italian art, read E.M. Forster’s “A Room With a View,” write blogs about

their travels, snap photos and prepare a capstone presentation of their Tuscan experience.

Among the biggest lessons the students learn is independence.

Dr. Andrea Brode tutors Beacon in Tuscany students.

“We took trains everywhere,” recalled Gina Mann, 21. “We had to learn how to read the train system. We had to call the restaurants ourselves and make reservations in Italian. We had help, of course, but mainly we really had to learn on our own.” That’s part of the plan, according to President Hagerty. “Our job is to take students as they come to us and begin to really allow them to become independent and responsible individuals who understand that they have to operate in an interdependent world.”

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