O@TS: Students attend trip to Europe
During the summer of 2025, a group of 31 Cedar Shoals High School students traveled to Europe for an eight day trip. They stayed in the Netherlands, France and Belgium. English teachers Tara Stuart and Hannah Doolittle garner interest from students and work with attendants at Cedar while international company EF Educational Tours plans the trip. Stuart thinks that international trips offer valuable insight for students by allowing students to encounter new experiences.
“Everything is different, cultures are different, and you can read about them, you can watch videos, but going and experiencing it for yourself is different. Especially if you add on language barriers, it just adds another layer onto your own personal experience going out into the world and seeing what it’s like to maybe not be comfortable,” Stuart said.
Before the trip and even on the trip, Stuart and the other chaperones took precautions to make it as safe as possible.
“I do have Dr. Clark look at the list of kids who sign up to make sure there’s not someone on the list who might cause problems. The ratio is one adult for every six kids that travels, so having that really helps. We use a company that provides a tour director who’s with us 24/7, they have offices all over the world. So if something does happen, I know I can get help quickly. Also I keep in really close contact with parents,” Stuart said.
Senior Emmett Cummings found the Anne Frank House a memorable part of the trip while in the Netherlands.
“It was very moving, because you hear about it in books and it’s a very famous story, but actually being there in the house and being in the exact steps that she was walking in, just made a big difference in how you view it and you see it,” Cummings said.
The summer 2026 trip will be to Italy and Greece, and summer 2027 will be to Japan. Cummings encourages other students to take this opportunity to travel.
“I would encourage them to go because it’s a great experience being there and seeing everything and just having fun. But it’s also a big learning experience, if you’ve never left the country before, just to see everything and just to really be there in person, it makes you see it differently,” Cummings said.
