Frances J. Bright Woman’s Club Debutantes Embark on Immersive Miami Study Tour

South Florida (Boca Raton and Miami) - The Taste History Art & Culture Study Tours hosted 12^th grade debutantes of the Frances J. Bright Woman’s Club of Delray Beach for an immersive trip via Brightline Trains traveling from the Boca Raton station to Overtown and the Design District in Miami on Saturday, April 18, 2026.    The debutantes are 12^th grade girls who attend high schools at Atlantic Community High School in Delray Beach; FAU High School in Boca Raton; Olympic Heights Community High School in Boca Raton; and Park Vista Community High School in Greenacres.   Palm Beach County Commission Vice Mayor Marcia Woodward and City of Boca Raton Mayor Andy Thomson greeted the 12^th grade students at the Boca Raton Brightline to give them send-off messages.  Sponsors are Brightline Trains, Schumacher Volvo Cars of The Palm Beaches, Delray Beach Toyota and Keiser Legal.

“The study tour to Miami was a multi-sensory learning journey for the 12^th grade debutantes with their first-time trip on Brightline Trains then experiencing Miami’s art, history, design and cuisines,” says Lori J. Durante, Volunteer Tour Organizer who developed non-profit Taste History Tour program.

Upon arriving in Miami, the students enjoyed a buffet breakfast in the Premium Lounge at Brightline Miami Central Station. From there the 12^th grade debutantes took a learning journey by foot and private bus to the historic  Lyric Theater (year 1913) and Black Archives in Overtown; L.E. Thomas Law Office Building (year 1936) in Overtown; Black Police Precinct and Courthouse Museum (year 1949) in Overtown; Soul Food Lunch at 1954 building of former Clyde Killens Pool Hall in Overtown which is now a restaurant; and the multi-sensory study tour concluded with a tour of a high fashion exhibition at Institute of Contemporary Art in Miami Design District.

Frances J. Bright Woman’s Club Charitable Foundation is a non-profit 501c3 100% volunteer community service organization named in honor of Frances J. Bright, a Black educator, who came to Palm Beach County, Florida in year 1899 and was hired in 1900 to teach at ‘colored’ school #4 that was established in year 1895. Mrs. Bright was the first Black woman teacher in Delray Beach.  The school initially operated from a thatched hut built by local Black residents located on historic NW 5th Avenue in Delray Beach. It was the first public school in Delray Beach. The first principal at Colored School #4 in year 1895 was Mr. B.F. James of Miami (Lemon City). The school was a part of the Dade County Public School System at that time because Palm Beach County was not incorporated as a separate county until year 1909.

The mission of the non-profit Taste History Art & Culture Study Tours is to offer curriculum based multi-sensory educational experiences for students.

The non-profit Taste History Art & Culture Study Tours program evolved from the non-profit Taste History Culinary Tours of Historic Palm Beach County developed by historian and volunteer tour guide Lori J. Durante and was launched in 2011. The Taste History Culinary Tours evolved from the non-profit Narrated Bus Tours of Historic Delray Beach, Florida that Durante created in a volunteer capacity in year 2004 that expanded to include other cities that are Boca Raton, Boynton Beach, Lantana, Lake Worth Beach, and West Palm Beach.  Subsequently, school field trips were also offered. The narrated history tours were hugely popular hosting over 10,000 people.   Post the COVID-19 pandemic, in year 2023, the Taste History Art & Culture Study Tours were launched as an additional option of history tours and it was established with its own separate 501c3 status, and the late philanthropist Iris Apfel who passed away in year 2024 made the lead financial donation in year 2023 for the beginning year of those tours.

The mission of the non-profit Taste History Art & Culture Study Tours is to offer curriculum based multi-sensory educational experiences for students by providing historical information highlighting multi-cultures, ethnic cuisines, architectural designs, historical places, people, artifacts plus ways of life of the past of the area toured.  The tour program is designed to be a school educational out-of-classroom experience, on the road, that infuses curriculum strands and benchmarks. The Study Tour creates an active, immersive, tangible experience and object-based learning for the students’ journey.  Some of the ways in which the Study Tour helps and enhances the students’ educational learning:

• Curriculum comprehension

• Memorization

• Observation skills

• Critical thinking

Contact: Lori J. Durante at 561-706-9420 or email director@tastehistoryculinarytours.org. 

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