Six things to know before you hit the road
A trip that successfully combines learning and fun
might be the high point of a student’s year. But
there are a lot of moving parts to synchronize—
choosing a destination, coordinating logistics and
getting students signed up—piled on top of your
daily time crunch.
Why go through all that trouble? Because you
know that nothing brings classroom material to life
like putting students face-to-face with the places
and masterpieces they’ve only seen in textbooks
and online.
So before you get overwhelmed by everything
that goes into planning a school trip around
the state or across an ocean, here are some
questions to ask yourself—and some people you
can ask for help.
1
What are your goals?
This question will guide many decisions when planning your
tour, and the answers will be different for every trip leader.
Dr. Linda Stratford is a professor of art history at Asbury University in
Wilmore, Kentucky. She regularly led May-term trips to France before
launching the college’s Paris semester program. Stratford emphasized
that her program’s objectives go beyond the classroom.
“Part of the goal of the program is to acquaint students with cross-
cultural experiences,” she says. “This includes the experience of using
6
NTA Trip Planner for Student Travel
a second language, so I wanted to avoid an English-based center.”
Maureen Wehmeier teaches writing at Greenwood Middle School
in Greenwood, Indiana, and has led students on several Europe trips.
She echoed Stratford’s sentiments.
“I try to tell my students that they can learn so much about who
they are by learning how they fit in the world,” she says. “By seeing
firsthand our differences, students learn how very much we are alike.”
Professional tour operators are prepared to listen to a trip leader’s
goals and tailor programs to meet those criteria—and do so on a
budget.
“Every school is assigned a director and trip planner,” says
Symon Hay. He is part of the traveler experience team at Westcoast
Connection, which operates student tours under its 360° Student
Travel brand. “Their role is to listen to the school’s wants and needs,
and then work with them to create the ideal itinerary within a specific
budget.”
Elaine Moulder, owner of Brilliant Edventures, says her company has
a similar process. “We prefer to have a conversation with the educator
to learn as much as possible about their students, the purpose of
the trip, destinations they would like to consider, their goals, tour
inclusions and their expectations.”
2
Where are you going?
Once you’ve outlined why you’re going, you can choose
destinations to support those goals. For Stratford and her art
students, Paris was a perfect fit.
“Paris is a major cosmopolitan center with great ethnic and cultural
diversity,” she says. “Also, its revolutionary history reflects the deep
questions we wrestle with today.”
Merry Moore was a student in Asbury’s Paris semester program
who now works as its outreach coordinator. She says Paris’ unrivaled
art scene helps develop students’ appreciation for the subject.
“One day we would talk about a handful of pieces or a historical
event, then the next class would be spent looking at those pieces or