Seneca Valley High School students went white water rafting among other adventure activities during their trip to Costa Rica in June.

SENECA VALLEY — Samantha Kollek is the most adventurous of her family.

So a trip to Costa Rica, a country with the unofficial motto “Pura Vida,” which means embrace the moment and love life, would naturally feel freeing.

“My family is in this general area. No one's really branched off anywhere,” said the 17-year-old Seneca Valley Senior High School senior. “It's opened my eyes that there's so much more out there.”

Samantha was one of a group of 40 students and others who traveled to Costa Rica in June with Seneca Valley High School anatomy and molecular biology teacher Rebecca Finch through EF Educational Tours, a program that helps educators create these immersive travel experiences.

Over the course of 10 days, the group visited the Santa Elena Cloud Forest, trekked through national parks, toured the canopy, swam in hot springs and even participated in a cultural exchange with locals.

“For many kids, it was their first time doing these things,” Finch said.

This is an excerpt from a story that appears in Sunday's Butler Eagle.