Classroom around world: Ridoloso offers students travel opportunities

By CINDY PONCE  
The Tower  

Teenagers are told to enjoy their youth and experience the world. Fatima Ridoloso gives students the chance to do just that through her non-official travel club.  

After being inspired by her daughter’s journey to different parts of the world with her school and Ridoloso’s own desire to travel herself, Ridoloso is expanding horizons for students who might’ve otherwise never had the opportunity to.  

This past June she traveled with her students to Costa Rica for a week where they visited beautiful landscapes and got to immerse themselves in the lively culture the island has to offer. This not only helps students learn about the diversity of the world but also helps them appreciate other cultures and their own. 

When students return from their travels, they’re not only given a new perspective on the vast world left to explore but also gain confidence in themselves to be on their own.

Parents may shy away from allowing their children to travel to new parts of the world due to financial concerns, but students and parents are given the chance to pay small, monthly installments of the total payment to levy the cost of the trip.  

Ridoloso has also made it so that students and parents can feel as safe as possible when traveling large distances away from home.  

“We have the peace of mind that I know that if something were to happen, we would have access to resources from the agency to help us,” Ridoloso said, “whether it's to come home early, change our flight, change the destination, whatever it is. There is support there.”  

Ridoloso’s next trip is scheduled for 2026, when students will travel to Tokyo.  

The Tower got the chance to sit down with Ridoloso to ask her about the importance of these travel opportunities and the solutions to challenges that students may face when planning to travel abroad. 

The Tower: Describe some of the things students would benefit from going on a trip with your club. 

Fatima Ridoloso: One of the things that I think is so important for students is to actually get out of the country and travel. It can open so many doors, not only to learn about other cultures (and) appreciate their own culture, but just to explore the world and to see that there's so much that they can do after high school.

TT: What is one of the biggest challenges when planning a trip and how do you overcome it?

FR: One of the biggest challenges is making sure that the students feel safe and parents feel safe when allowing their students or their kids to come with me, especially when it's out of the country and it's so far.  

TT: What would you tell a student who thinks they can’t afford to go on one of your trips?  

FR: They can, and it’s possible. … The whole purpose of us offering the travel club or the travel opportunity is to be able to make sure that the kids are able to afford to go to these places. This company offers two years to a year and a half of planning, which allows families to make small payments monthly, so their students can actually go to their trip. The good thing about this package is that it includes the transportation, the hotel, the activities, dinner, and breakfast. 

TT: Why do you think it’s important to take Manteca High students on these trips? 

FR: I feel like other high schools, they've been having these types of programs for years and you know, maybe that’s because the students at the other schools are used to traveling. But I feel like our kids at Manteca don't have as many options, so bringing this travel option to Manteca is opening new doors for them.