An upcoming trip to Italy is available to freshmen, sophomores, and juniors during their 2025 spring break.
Resource English teacher Hannah Nance will be the group leader of the trip.
“This is my first time leading a group through Education First (EF) Tours,” Nance said. “Although I haven’t led a group before, everyone has to start somewhere, and if this works out, I’d love to be able to offer more trips like this in the future.”
Nance trusts the trip to go smoothly with the assistance from EF Tours.
“EF Tours is an educational travel company,” Nance said. “They help(ed) me plan the trip and take care of all the logistics of booking flights, hotels, food accommodations (and) tickets. I have not traveled with them before, but I have teacher friends who have used them, and they all had wonderful experiences.”
One teacher friend of Nance, Janice House, taught history and geography at an Evansville area high school before moving to Puebla City, Mexico to teach English Language Immersion. House believes her collaboration with EF Tours was worth it.
“I took a small group of my students on a trip to London and Paris a few years ago,” House said. “The students, chaperones, and I had an excellent time on the trip. This was the first trip we’d taken with EF Tours (I went as a chaperone) and EF was great to work with. Our trip went very smoothly overall. They took care of all of our flights and hotels and helped us book excursions for the cities we were in.”
The trip has already been planned.
“This trip is a seven-day trip to Italy,” Nance said. “We will be traveling to the cities of Rome, Perugia, and Assisi. We plan to go sightseeing, go on tours of important landmarks, and eat delicious Italian food. We will be going to places like the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, and the Spanish Steps while in Rome. And then we get to see more of the countryside in Perugia and Assisi.”
Though the available slots to enroll are currently full, Nance still encourages those interested to keep tabs on the roster.
“We have 42 spots on the trip for students and parents, and right now, all of them are full,” Nance said. “However, we do have a waitlist in case someone changes their mind and decides to drop, so we encourage anyone who is still interested in the trip to sign up for the waitlist.”
Those worried about price have the opportunity to create a payment plan.
“For a family like mine, the trip is expensive, but you can pay for it over the span of 2 years so there’s time to separate the payments,” student Natalie Beck said. “They also offer scholarship opportunities for those who want to apply for one.”
Nance believes students looking to attend are very excited.
“I think all the students who have signed up so far are very eager for the trip. I’ve had several of them come to talk to me about how excited they are to experience Italy.”
Beck is excited to experience their trip.
“I’m most excited to get to go to a new country because I’ve never been out of the country, Beck said. “I think it’s a great learning experience in many different ways. You get to visit historical landmarks but you also get to learn about a new culture. It also gives you the opportunity to learn a new language.”
College credit is available to those hoping to attend the journey.
“Both high school and college credit are offered to students who go on the trip,” Nance said. “The high school credit is free, but the college credits go through Southern New Hampshire University and will have a cost. Even if they don’t complete the credits, I believe having an experience like this would absolutely enhance a student’s academic career. Having an experience like that could help write college essays and could give students an edge when applying for colleges.”
Nance is eager for students to gain experience in a foreign country.
“I think students have a lot to gain from international travel,” Nance said. “They are able to have cultural experiences that are far different than their own, and they gain insight into the world around them. In the world we live in today, it is so important to be aware of the world around us and experience those different cultures.”
