The destination is truly st-Eifel-ing
BY KEIRA KILKENNY, STAFF WRITER
On Wednesday, Sept. 6, the junior class gathered in the Sanford Performing Arts Center to find out where the Class of 2025’s abroad location would be.
The answer was France! More specifically, the tour is called, “Paris and the Chateaux”.
SHS Abroad is a school-sponsored club that offers an abroad trip to seniors during February vacation of their season year. This is through a partnership with Education First (EF), an educational travel company.
On Tuesday, Sept. 12 at 7 p.m., a parent and student information meeting was held in Sanford’s Performing Arts Center. Kelly Foley, SHS Abroad Advisor and English teacher, went over all the trip information regarding EF safety policies, the trip itinerary, what’s included in the price, along with other information.
The trip will take place during February break 2025, to avoid any school conflicts. Attendees will fly out of Logan Airport overnight to France.
The first two days will be spent in Paris, seeing many iconic sights such as the Eiffel Tower and Notre-Dame Cathedral. Travelers will also tour the Palace of Versailles and take a Seine River cruise.
The next two days will be spent in the Loire Valley, getting to see breathtaking architecture and majestic gardens.
Day six will be spent in St. Malo, a beautiful island. The last two days will be spent in Normandy, viewing the incredible beaches and learning about WWII’s famous D-Day.
On the final day, travelers will also go back to Paris, visiting the Louvre – the home of the Mona Lisa – before traveling home.
The cost for this trip has been broken down in the most manageable way possible. There are many payment plans available such as bi-weekly, monthly, manual payments, or paying in full. In full, the total student cost is $3,789, but anyone who registered within the first 24 hours of enrollment received a $200 discount.
For this cost, hotels, breakfast and dinner, plane tickets, tour guides, on-the-ground transportation and excursions and tickets are all included. Some excursions even include a “fast pass” to skip the lines.
There will be fundraising opportunities for travelers to help lighten this cost and all students are also given a Personal Donation Page, similar to a GoFundMe, so others can donate to each traveler’s trip.
There are a few things that aren’t included in the initial cost such as passports, snacks and lunches, and tips for tour guides. SHS Abroad will be taking a bus to and from the airport, which they will be fundraising for as well.
The junior class looks forward to Sanford’s third trip abroad! Any questions or more information can be found by emailing Foley at kfoley@sanford.org, or checking out SHS Abroad on Instagram and Facebook!
The Class of 2024 is less than 150 days out from their trip to Greece. Read more on the details of that trip here.
The first trip in 2023 was to Italy where 72 travelers explored Venice, Florence and Rome.
The Spartan Times 