Europe is just one of many popular summer vacation destinations, but for 12 Blue Valley students and two teachers, a European trip means more than a little shopping and a selfie in front of Big Ben.
English Language Arts teacher Tierney Weed and business teacher Ashley Scheuerman have had previous experience abroad.
“When I was in high school, [I] traveled over the summer with a teacher and a group of kids and thought it was a really cool experience,” Weed said. “Mrs. Scheuerman’s husband is a German teacher, and she does the same thing with his students. They went this past summer, and we just kind of thought, ‘Let’s do this. We’re kind of at a time in our lives where we can.’”
Trip-goers will be guided on a tour of many famous places in Europe.
“The trip is Dublin, London and Paris,” Weed said. “We’ll be in Ireland and then traveling through Scotland down to England and then ending in France. This company that we’re using is called EF — Education First. They have a tour guide who goes with us on our whole thing, and in each city we go in, we’ll have a local tour guide who will take us through the stuff we do.”
The trip was open to all BV students. Junior Kristina Jewell said she decided to go due to a previous European trip.
“I’m going because I went freshman year to England,” she said. “I really like to travel, and I want to go different places. My grandparents have this map, and they have pins [on it] for where they’ve been, and I kind of want to do something like that.”
Though the trip does require some organizing, Weed said planning is relatively simple.
“This company we’re using plans it all for us, so we didn’t have to look at flights, hotels or any of that stuff,” she said. “Since we’re a small group, we’re with another group from Ohio and one from Iowa. We’ll be traveling with those groups wherever we go.”
Jewell said she is not concerned about being ready for the trip.
“My parents have been to England five or six times, so we already have [everything I need],” she said. “You [can’t] wear what you would wear here. I mean, you can, but you’d stick out a lot. Like Nike shorts, people don’t wear those [or] open-toed shoes, like flip-flops.”
Weed said future trips are a possibility, as is the opportunity for fundraising.
“We’d like to just see how [this summer goes] and then look at potential further trips down the road,” she said. “The company that we’re using [doesn’t just explore European countries]. There’s some pretty cool ones that are in Southeast Asia, Australia and even in South America.”
Jewell said she feels the trip will be beneficial in the future.
“I think [I’ll gain from] the whole cultural experience, like what kind of food they eat,” she said. “The whole time change will be kind of fun. It’s like starting over.”
Weed said she is looking forward to the trip.
“We’re just really excited to get to experience this with students and kind of learn with them,” she said. “We’re used to being the people who are up [front] teaching, and so [I’m excited to be able to go on this], not know a lot and learn stuff too.”