What better way to learn about a country than asking questions of somebody who lives there?

Wareham students will have that opportunity as part of a global education initiative that connects Wareham students with students in Cape Verde via Skype, a program that allows people to video conference for free on the Internet.

Two Wareham teachers - Henry St. Julien, a world history teacher and chair of the social studies department at Wareham High, and Jessica Frazier, a math teacher at Wareham Middle School - will visit schools in Fogo and Santa Cruz, Cape Verde in mid-April.

The teachers will initiate discussions among students in both countries while they are there, focusing on issues such as culture and stereotypes in forums on April 13 and 15.

St. Julien and Frazier raised the money needed to go on the trip.

The initiative is part of a larger effort in the Wareham Public Schools to encourage students to learn from each others' cultures.  The school system has established a Global Education Team made up of teachers from elementary to high-school grade levels, which aims to facilitate global education in all grade levels and across all disciplines, to build relationships with students and teachers in other countries, to help students think globally and expand their horizons, to start a community service project, and to compare laws in other countries with those in the U.S., St. Julien said.

Because Wareham has a large Cape Verdean community, that country was chosen as the first location for global communication, St. Julien said.

The initiative is an expansion on a six-year project with the Cape Verdean schools and partners with New Bedford Public Schools. Teachers from New Bedford will be joining St. Julien and Frazier on their trip to Cape Verde. Last fall, educators from Cape Verde visited Wareham, New Bedford, and Brockton.