Special Features Editor
A month ago, travel to Europe was probably not even a blip on the radar screen of summer activities for the Union City High School Class of 2010.
Then an anonymous donor announced a plan to fully fund a trip to seven countries — England, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland and France — for up to eight of those students.
Two nights of meetings with 28 interested teens and their parents followed, with Union City Rotary Club members acting as coordinators and official sponsors of the trip. Members of the planning committee explained the requirements to be considered for selection, went over the itinerary and detailed the process for applying. They also introduced UCHS assistant principal and history teacher Jacob Cross and his wife, Emily, as chaperones for the trip.
Of that number of interested students, 22 returned applications and, in so doing, formally requested to be considered for the trip. Rotary Club members then interviewed each of the juniors Wednesday and, on Friday afternoon, informed the eight fortunate students they would be departing Memphis June 19 for the adventure of a lifetime.
Those students selected include Will Arnold, Chambry Callicott, Katy Crews, Kayla Eason, Paige Fisher, Katelyn Ray, Whitney Smith and Andrew Speed. A single male and female alternate were also named in the event a student is unable to take part. They are Garrison Barnes and Allison Bruff.
“It was tough. It was tough,” Dr. Leland Davis, who, along with Clay Woods was the co-chairman of the coordinating group that has planned the trip to this point, told the students. In describing the efforts of the Rotary selection committee who conducted the 22 interviews and made the final selections of students, he added, “We hashed it out and hashed it out and we scored and we
scored. You all did great on the interviews. I’m in awe of the way this school is and the way the students are doing such a good job,” he added in praise of all the applicants.
“I feel very blessed and grateful for this opportunity,” Miss Eason, who is the daughter of Rhodney Eason and Tammy Eason, said when news of her selection had had time to soak in.
Her new travel mates echoed her reaction to the good news.
“I am very grateful to have been chosen for this once in a lifetime opportunity. This will be an experience I will never forget,” added Katelyn Ray, daughter of Darren and Karen Ray.
Making plans
Clearly, some decisions have already been made for the group of student travelers. The Rotary-led committee that worked under a tight deadline to plan the trip selected an organized tour by well-known travel company Cosmos. Working with local tourism specialist Linda Aaron from Travel One in Union City, the committee considered several itineraries but finally settled on a trip that will provide an overview of multiple countries.
The students and their chaperones will leave Union City as a group June 19 — a Friday — and will depart the Memphis airport at 6:20 p.m., arriving in Atlanta (a recent change from the group’s originally announced U.S. departure site) about 8:40 (EDT) p.m. A change in planes will see them headed out over the Atlantic by 10:10 p.m. and they will arrive in London on Saturday, around noon Big Ben time. A tour company conveyance will transport the group to their hotel.
Saturday night and Sunday night will be spent in London and bright and early Monday morning, the travelers will board another bus and travel through the English countryside to the east coast, where they will take a ride on a huge ferry across the English Channel, landing at the port of Calais, France, and busing on to Brussels, Belgium, where they will spend the night.
Tuesday’s adventures include a Rhine River cruise in Germany and an overnight in Frankfurt, with several stops along the way.
Scenery reminiscent of their favorite fairy tales from childhood will be on the agenda for the travelers Wednesday as they follow the “Romantic Road” to the picturesque village of Rothenburg, where castles and medieval scenes are the order of the day.
When the bus stops for the final time Wednesday, the group will be in Innsbruck, Austria.
On Thursday of the “Continental-hop,” the UCHS group will make their way through the famed Brenner Pass and move on to Venice, Italy, where they will experience more water travel by way of the city’s famed gondolas before “crashing” in their hotel after another busy day.
Friday’s plans include sightseeing at the fabled balcony of Juliet in Verona, Italy, and another border crossing into Switzerland and the beauties of Lake Lucerne, where they will spend another evening. On Saturday, it’s back to France — this time to overnight in the village of Dole and then to press on, come Sunday, to Paris, the “City of Lights.”
Local guides there will take over and give the group an overview of the famous city. On Monday, the day is wide open for exploration on their own. But come Tuesday, June 30, it will be time to wind down from the excitement, take final glimpses of Parisian city streets on the way to the airport for a noon (Paris time) flight and head back to West Tennessee, this time passing through the Cincinnati airport about 3:25 in the afternoon and ending up in Memphis at close to 5:30 that evening.
The travelers should be able to collect their baggage, grab a bite to eat and arrive in Union City just in time to tumble into bed — provided their family and friends can resist the urge to keep them up all night sharing tales of the trip.
“Being chosen for this trip is a true blessing,” said Will Arnold, son of Trent and Leslee Arnold, as he contemplated the busy schedule. “I am anxious and excited to experience the thrills that will undoubtedly come from this trip.”
The details of their travel are fairly well established by the tour company for most of the trip, but the group will be on their own for at least a full day and a couple of nights on the front end of the trip in London and on the wind-down side in Paris. Plus, there are a few evenings on the road when options for exploring and entertainment will be available.
No sooner had the group been notified of their selection than they were advised that they would be expected to delve into the possibilities for these unscheduled hours and arrive at a unanimous decision about how best to spend their time.
That exciting task is one of several they will be meeting to dig in to over the next few weeks.
In the meantime
The first big order of the day for the eight UCHS juniors is obtaining passports. The students began scrambling to locate the necessary personal documentation they will need to present to get that process under way over the weekend. The cost of the passports for the students, their chaperones and the two alternates — who must, of course, have those essential documents if they are called upon to fill a spot — is being covered by the donor of the trip.
In addition, that generous local citizen is taking care of the cost of the tour itself, as billed by Cosmos; flight expenses; lunches each day, since these are not provided by the tour company; dinner on the evenings not covered by the tour company; transportation from Union City to the Memphis airport and then back home again on the return trip; trip insurance; transportation in Paris and London for the “extra” days they will be making their own plans in those cities; funds to cover tips for those who assist them in foreign places; and some spending money for the “extra” excursions they will be undertaking. For each student, the bill will come to just under $4,500.
Students already have some background information about the countries they will be visiting, the code of conduct they will be expected to follow and their responsibilities as members of a travel group who will be dependent on each other to make the trip a success. This initial “food for thought” was provided by the planning committee at the introductory sessions for interested students and their parents.
But they will be expected to add significantly to their store of knowledge before they ever leave town in mid-June.
The opportunities to broaden their knowledge base and to learn to share information, arrive at consensus and work as a team will be abundant over the next few weeks.
“I am excited that Rotary has presented me with the opportunity to tour numerous European countries. I am looking forward to comparing Europe to the United States and I think it will be extremely interesting,” said Paige Fisher, who is the granddaughter of Keith and Anita Fisher, with whom she makes her home, and the daughter of Keith Fisher Jr.
Cross has already spent time discussing some of the basics of student travel with Stan Sieber and his wife, Sarah. Sieber, who teaches history at the University of Tennessee at Martin, is also the coordinator of travel study/study abroad programs at UTM. In fact, the history professor is leading a student tour to Europe this week, but he and his wife have volunteered to spend time with the UCHS student travel group and advise them on some “housekeeping” travel tasks, such as deciding what to pack and learning how to pack it; determining the best way to manage their food and beverage budgets; practicing “good travel” manners; learning safety precautions far from home (such as watching for traffic coming from a whole new direction in London); understanding monetary systems that will include “pounds” in England, francs in Belgium and the currency of the European Union in the other nations; and picking the best “side trips” for their unstructured time.
In addition, the Rotary team plans to offer a photography session with a pro and perhaps some videography sessions so students can record their adventures and use them both in post-trip presentations to their fellow students, to Rotary Club and to other interested organizations and for sending the day’s adventures home to be shared with the entire community each day of the trip through The Messenger’s online site, NWTNToday.com. Students will also be doing research about the history, geography, politics and customs of the seven countries they will visit. And they will be anticipating and perhaps even engaging in a little early “journaling” about the trip.
Chambry Callicott, daughter of Ansley Copper, is looking forward to establishing even more enduring bonds than those of classmate status with her fellow travelers. “Out of 22 people, I am very grateful to be one of the lucky eight that gets to travel around Europe. This is a once in a lifetime chance that will never come around again. I am also very happy to be taking this trip with a group of people that I get along great with.”
“I am extremely thankful for this opportunity and hope it will be the wonderful experience that I am expecting,” said Whitney Smith, daughter of Steve and Beth Elam of her upcoming opportunity.
Praise for the team
“The decision-making process was so difficult because all the students were so sharp and enthusiastic and excited. It’s such a wonderful opportunity for them. Our only regret is that we couldn’t send everyone who wanted to go,” said Woods.
Other members of the committee who sat in on the interviews and reviewed the students’ applications had similar words of praise for all those who worked hard to be selected. A spokesman for the group also stressed to the eight students who made the final cut that they must now begin to think of the welfare of the entire group and to help make the wrap-up plans that will benefit everyone. That planning and the interaction of the group, plus the research and learning experiences both prior to, during and after the trip — when the group will be presenting the highlights of their experience to their hometown and fellow students — are all vital components of the experience.
Also of importance to the students will be the opportunity they will have to meet fellow tourists on the Cosmos tour. The company specializes in trips for English-speaking travelers, so the other tour bus riders may have booked their own vacations from homes in Australia, New Zealand and Canada as well as across the United States and even from other places around the world where English is a familiar language. These travelers will also represent a wide age-range — from senior citizens to family groups with school-age children — and they will bring new perspectives for the UCHS contingent to consider. The local student group, in turn, will probably represent a unique addition to the tour and will, no doubt, be the subject of intense interest from other vacationers. Connections that may affect their futures could, conceivably, result from the proximity the varied travelers will enjoy during their time together.
“I am ecstatic about the opportunity I have been given to visit seven different European countries. I am so excited to have the chance to learn about the different cultures and people outside of the United States. I know this trip will be a life changing experience,” said Katy Crews, daughter of Kristy Brown and Kenny Crews.
The prospects are exciting, but maximum effort and goodwill among the team members will spell the success or failure of the mission and will play a part in determining whether such trips continue in the future, members of the committee have stressed.
The excitement among the students is high and their gratitude for the opportunity is evident in their conversations about the adventure.
“This trip will undoubtedly be a highlight in my life. I really can’t thank the Rotary Club enough for planning the entire trip,” said Andrew Speed, son of Mr. and Mrs. David Barnett and Chris Speed.
Published in The Messenger 3.10.09
