Travel the world from Athina to Potsdam
World travel is one of the best ways to make lessons taught in class become vivid memories rather than simply dry lessons. I say this as a teacher who has taught more than his fair share of dry lessons, but I have returned from school trips abroad with insights, memories, and with new understanding that has helped to improve my next lesson.
In recent years I have arranged to take Bell students to London, Paris, Vimy Ridge, Venice, Florence, Siena, Rome and Pompeii. This year’s trip, which is soon set to depart, is to Greece.
We will tour many of the most important sites of classical antiquity. Parents and travellers have met, discussed, planned and saved for this, and everyone is becoming increasingly excited about seeing the Acropolis and walking the same path in Delphi that led to the oracle.
Our planning has already commenced for next year. The 65th anniversary of the liberation of Holland, and of the end of the Second World War, will be the focus for the next trip in 2010. We will be gone for 12 days at the beginning of May and will participate in the observances to remember our Canadian war dead while celebrating with the Dutch their freedom. The trip is to fly to Paris to take in some of its many wonders, before heading to Normandy. We will then follow the advance of the Canadian forces through north western France and Belgium to the Netherlands.
Along the way we will take in Canadian battle sites, including Vimy Ridge and the Flanders Field Museum. Once in Amsterdam we will tour Anne Frank’s House, and a historic Dutch village complete with wooden clogs. Following the liberation observances in the Netherlands the trip will head to Berlin where we visit Potsdam, the Checkpoint Charlie Museum and the Berlin Wall. These are only some of the places that we will visit. If you are interested please contact Mr. MacGregor. The rewards of travel are great , and your memories will last, but please first consider the financial cost, the time missed from class, and whether you will fit in well on a disciplined school trip. If these considerations are not a problem then I encourage you to consider applying for the trip to Paris, Amsterdam and Berlin.