For nine days, six students and six teachers will spend their Spring Break experiencing the culture, life, language and food of France.
World history teacher April Aston will lead the group that leaves for France on March 8 to embark on a nine hour flight to Paris and return on March 17. She said that the trip is beneficial to students because it will create memories that they will have for a lifetime.
“I still remember every [trip I took] and that inspired a desire in me to learn more about the world and I think it has done the same for several students that have gone with us before,” Aston said. “Many of them have come back and said they want to be teachers, they want to travel [or] they want to work in international business.”
Aston has taken students on trips to Germany, Italy, Scotland and London, as well as France. She chose France again this year, because although France is small, there are a lot of things to see, she said. 
“We’re going to see some of the examples of Paleolithic cave paintings,” Aston said. “They are some of the oldest cave paintings in the world. Then, we’re going to go to a medieval fortress town, Carcassonne. Then we’re going to spend some time in the south of France and see the prison where the count of Monte Cristo was held prisoner off the coast of Marseille, so we’ll see the Mediterranean.”
Junior April Taylor is one of the six to embark on the nine  hour flight to France. In order to go, she had to convince her dad to pay over $3,000 for the trip.
“At first he’s like ‘that’s way too much money,’ and I just kind of begged,” Taylor said. “He wanted me to have the opportunity. He decided to let me go.”
This will be Taylor’s first trip outside of the U.S, and her first time on an airplane. She says she is excited to visit one of the fashion capitals of the world and to see the Eiffel tower.  However, she is concerned about being able to communicate with the people of France.
“How everyone speaks French, I’m scared of that,” Taylor said. “I mean, I know everyone speaks English. But I’m expected to greet people in French, and I’m not comfortable with that. Aston’s gone over a few phrases with us, but I haven’t learned anything.  I’m going to have to study.”
For senior Devn Rose, the trip to France will be her second time visiting Europe with Aston. She enjoyed her previous trip to London and Scotland so much that she had to go again, she said.
“I think I’m a little bit more nervous going to France because of the different language,” Rose said. “We don’t always have to stay with an adult, especially in smaller towns, so we can basically go off if we want to go shopping. I’m kind of scared about the language barrier, especially when ordering food, so I think I’m just going to point or something.”
 Before visiting Europe, she believed that it was crazy to think that other people have lives outside of her own bubble. Being able to visit other countries and see how other people live has been really eye opening according to Rose, and she will use her lesson learned last year- keeping an open mind- once she is in France.
 “I feel like when you go to a different country you just want to see more, and you want to know more, and you want to learn languages and you want to experience its culture,” Rose said. “So I feel like it definitely benefits people, because they get to see other cultures, and they get to learn more about other people in this world today.”For nine days, six students and six teachers will spend their Spring Break experiencing the culture, life, language and food of France.
World history teacher April Aston will lead the group that leaves for France on March 8 to embark on a nine hour flight to Paris and return on March 17. She said that the trip is beneficial to students because it will create memories that they will have for a lifetime.
“I still remember every [trip I took] and that inspired a desire in me to learn more about the world and I think it has done the same for several students that have gone with us before,” Aston said. “Many of them have come back and said they want to be teachers, they want to travel [or] they want to work in international business.”
Aston has taken students on trips to Germany, Italy, Scotland and London, as well as France. She chose France again this year, because although France is small, there are a lot of things to see, she said. 
“We’re going to see some of the examples of Paleolithic cave paintings,” Aston said. “They are some of the oldest cave paintings in the world. Then, we’re going to go to a medieval fortress town, Carcassonne. Then we’re going to spend some time in the south of France and see the prison where the count of Monte Cristo was held prisoner off the coast of Marseille, so we’ll see the Mediterranean.”
Junior April Taylor is one of the six to embark on the nine  hour flight to France. In order to go, she had to convince her dad to pay over $3,000 for the trip.
“At first he’s like ‘that’s way too much money,’ and I just kind of begged,” Taylor said. “He wanted me to have the opportunity. He decided to let me go.”
This will be Taylor’s first trip outside of the U.S, and her first time on an airplane. She says she is excited to visit one of the fashion capitals of the world and to see the Eiffel tower.  However, she is concerned about being able to communicate with the people of France.
“How everyone speaks French, I’m scared of that,” Taylor said. “I mean, I know everyone speaks English. But I’m expected to greet people in French, and I’m not comfortable with that. Aston’s gone over a few phrases with us, but I haven’t learned anything.  I’m going to have to study.”
For senior Devn Rose, the trip to France will be her second time visiting Europe with Aston. She enjoyed her previous trip to London and Scotland so much that she had to go again, she said.
“I think I’m a little bit more nervous going to France because of the different language,” Rose said. “We don’t always have to stay with an adult, especially in smaller towns, so we can basically go off if we want to go shopping. I’m kind of scared about the language barrier, especially when ordering food, so I think I’m just going to point or something.”
 Before visiting Europe, she believed that it was crazy to think that other people have lives outside of her own bubble. Being able to visit other countries and see how other people live has been really eye opening according to Rose, and she will use her lesson learned last year- keeping an open mind- once she is in France.
 “I feel like when you go to a different country you just want to see more, and you want to know more, and you want to learn languages and you want to experience its culture,” Rose said. “So I feel like it definitely benefits people, because they get to see other cultures, and they get to learn more about other people in this world today.”