Nicole Horn
Art students at Fort Frances High School will take off on a journey of a lifetime next month.
The students and two teacher reps are heading to Greece from Oct. 19-27.
The trip will include stops at famous Greek monuments and temples, hikes up mountains for amazing views of the city, a cruise that will take them around the Aegean Sea, and stops at islands around the Mediterranean.
Each day will offer something new for the students to see, and time even has been set aside so they’ll be able to sketch the different sights around Greece.
Egypt was the initial destination when an art trip first was being discussed two years ago. However, with political unrest continuing there, Greece was chosen as the destination instead.
Even though there aren’t any ancient tombs in Greece the students can tour, they still will have their hands full with all the stops planned for that week.
The teacher reps—Tracy Rob and Owen Johnston—have book guided tours of ancient temples from Greek mythology, a tour of the National Archaeological Museum, a visit to the ruins of the Palace of Knossos, and a trip to the spot that the Oracle of Delphi used to foresee the future.
Both the students and teachers are enthusiastic about this trip.
“I am extremely excited for this trip,” enthused Grade 12 art student Meghan Metke.
“Going on a trip with all my friends, and it’s our senior year, it’s pretty exciting.”
All the students are counting down the days until it’s time to leave.
“This has been the number-one destination personally, for myself, since I was a Grade 9 art student at Fort Frances High School,” noted Rob.
“The fact that I can actually go on this trip is amazing for me,” she added.
Rob explained how Greek culture and history is a major part of the art history lesson she and Johnston teach at the high school, so it will give a chance for the students to see what they were taught come to life.
Of course, a trip like this costs a lot of money. Thankfully, through various events held by the students, such as garage sales and bake sales, the amount of money raised helped out a student with the total cost.
To also offset the total cost, the students sold vouchers to residents for Lowey’s Greenhouse and M&M Meat Shops.
Thanks to these business, the students were able to raise quite a bit of money.
Meanwhile, final preparations are being made for the trip.
The teacher reps are going over the itinerary, answering last-minute questions, and sketch books and art supplies are being packed away.
For their part, the students have been getting advice from the teacher reps to help with their preparations.
“The teachers gave us spreadsheets to us help us know how much money we spend so that we know what we need in Euros,” explained art student Jessica Ash.
Students also are boning up on their Greek so that they can communicate simple phrases with townspeople, and are practising packing their suitcase.
Johnston said he gave all the students advice to help make sure their luggage will not cost them a cent.
“The students should see if they can carry their suitcase all the way up a flight of stairs and all the way down without injuring themselves,” he noted.
“[And] weighing it so they won’t get dinged with a fee,” he warned.
