Even on the other side of the world, Dickinson ISD students are making a difference. Last week some students in Africa received school supplies from some very giving Bay Colony students. You may be asking how this happened and really it all started with a teacher who wanted to give her students a special lesson.

Fourth grade teacher Regena Collier thought her husband was crazy when he told her he wanted to climb some mountains in Tanzania, Africa. That didn't sound like fun to her at all, but when she started researching the trip, there was a section about visiting schools and helping the African students. That was when she knew she had to accompany her husband on this crazy trip.

"I thought it would be exciting and emotional to go into the villages and schools, they don't have what we have here," said Collier. For that reason, she asked her students to send some of their school supplies, and they filled her suitcase with books, pencils and folders.

Collier gave the African students their new supplies, but that's not all she did. Collier also took the African students pictures of her students from Bay Colony Elementary and now she will bring her students pictures of their African counterparts. She believes seeing these pictures will help her students learn about the African lifestyle and culture.  She thinks this trip could form a connection between the two groups of students and she hopes that some of them even become pen pals.

One thing is for sure though; all the students involved were very excited about their journey to Africa. Even if they didn't really make the trip, they've already gotten so much from their teacher's experience.

"They're buying into it and it's really bringing the world to them. I'm bringing them an experience that some of them will never get to have," said Collier.