Beautiful scenery, extravagant locations, cultural experiences, and a new sense of self – all are included in an Education First (EF) Tour.
Last year, Mounties went to Italy, France, and Costa Rica. The advisors for the EF Tours at Rogers High School are Amanda Wunderlich, art teacher, Natalie Olivieri, science teacher, and Sarah Chappell, English teacher. They each highly recommend students join available trips.
EF Tours are an opportunity for students to travel and see the world with their classmates. Students pay a fee of roughly $3,000 to $5,000, Olivieri said. The fee does not need to be paid in full at first, and can be turned into a fundraiser for the student. The student has until the trip starts to pay the full amount. The trips may also count toward college credit and allow students to see more of the world on their own without the stress of planning a trip, Olivieri said.
Students this year still have the opportunity to go to Greece, Ireland, Scotland, and Portugal. EF trips for 2025 include Japan, Belize, and an Eastern European WWII tour. These locations are going to be full of new experiences for students.
Students will get to experience a lot in a short amount of time, due to EF Tours getting special privileges when they’re at designated locations, Olivieri said. They’ll skip lines and see things that someone who planned their vacation themselves wouldn’t get the opportunity to see.
The Belize trip is for those who like the outdoors, and who love exploring and seeing new places. In Belize, students will have the opportunity to go ziplining, cave tubing, and snorkeling in the second largest barrier reef in the world. The Eastern Europe trip will go from London to Paris, then to Berlin to see parts of WWII history. Students on the Japan trip will go to Tokyo and students will freely explore cities during the trip as they see temples, shrines and castles throughout the country.
“The people that went were all really shy people and didn’t know each other and so it was cool to see them open up and shine. Then it was cool to see them meet new people and see new places. There’s definitely a growth mindset that’s involved with this and it’s something that you don’t anticipate, and you can’t put a price tag on that,” Wunderlich said.
Students will meet new people and make memories that will last for their lifetimes. Everyone who goes can expect to see and experience something that is unlike anything else. It’s an adventure that doesn’t give a lot of room for boredom, Wunderlich said.
“Students have to be a little willing to step outside of their comfort zones,” Chappell said. “[They will be] trying new stuff, seeing new places, trying new foods, and meeting new people.”
