NEWS

New European trip offers academic enrichment, personal growth

December 8, 2016

5.1.2

By Mike Stanford, editor-in-chief
Seeing her phone light up, sophomore Megan McNally looked over curiously. One of her friends has just texted her in all capital letters about a trip to Europe in spring break 2018. Her interest was piqued.
After hearing more about the trip from social science teacher Jon Kaminsky during AP World History, she was giddy with excitement.
The trip she had heard about was a guided tour of London, Paris and Rome being offered by the school and led by social science teacher Robert Lindgren. He will be hosting an informational meeting on the trip for both students and parents Dec. 15 at 7 p.m. in the community room.
While this is the first time the trip will be offered at Prospect, Lindgren has led similar trips for the past 20 years as a teacher at Hersey and Buffalo Grove. In his first excursion, which went to Venice, Florence and Rome, Lindgren took 10-15 students, and although he was initially skeptical of the trip, he found it to be an enlightening experience for students.
“Seeing the kids’ reactions to things, seeing how they changed, seeing how they bonded as a group, seeing what they learned, [seeing them] home completely different people just confirmed, in my mind, that international travel is a huge experience and opportunity for kids, and ever since then, I’ve tried to share that opportunity with as many kids as possible,” Lindgren said.
From this initial trip, the program grew to the point that Lindgren’s most recent trip, which he took while at Buffalo Grove, had over 50 students. He hopes that Prospect can eventually gather the same enthusiasm, and he says that feedback has been encouraging thus far.
“A lot of people have traveled already, and they know the value of that,” Lindgren said. “They think that anything that can help kids gain exposure early is probably a good thing.”
For McNally, the opportunity to travel with her friends instead of her parents is especially intriguing. According to Lindgren, the independence of the trip is one aspect that gives the trip potential to be transformative for students. Another is the wide array of sights they will see.
The group will be led by tour guides throughout the trip to ensure students receive the full experience. Some attractions include the Tower of London, Trafalgar Square and Parliament in London; the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower and the Palace of Versailles in Paris; and the Colosseum, the Forum and the Vatican in Rome. Lindgren says these moments are especially valuable because have learned about these places in class, and seeing them firsthand can be incredible.
“That’s really what’s most meaningful — when you see students just completely in awe of where they’re at. It really starts sinking in, like, ‘Wow,’” Lindgren said. “We live in a pretty fast-paced world, and when they have the time to slow down and take time to look at that stuff without you telling them they have to, it’s pretty powerful to see the reaction they have.”

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