Brookwood students learn history, culture on annual Europe trip
Brookwood students and faculty sponsors toured many sites of historical importance such as Buckingham Palace in London, England.
The group spent in time in England, France, Switzerland, and Italy.
A group of upperclassmen from Brookwood School visited London, England; Paris, France; Lucerne, Switzerland; and three cities in Italy on a two-week trip this summer, a tradition for the school since the 1970s.
English teacher Jonathan Groover and art teacher Maureen Harrer chaperoned the tour, which was led by representatives from the American Council for International Studies (ACIS). ACIS specializes in educational travel for middle and high school students.
“You can read all day long in a history book or listen to a lecture about events in history, but history truly comes alive when you can see some of these places with your own eyes, if you’re fortunate enough to do so,” Groover said.
The trip began in London, where the group visited St. Paul’s Cathedral, Trafalgar Square and the Houses of Parliament. They also witnessed the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace. Rising senior Nicholas Lauderdale said he was impressed that each building in London — beautifully maintained to echo its past — had historical significance.
“They take so much pride in their history,” he said. In Paris, they visited city’s most famous monuments — Notre Dame, Napoleon’s final resting place at Les Invalides, the Arc de Triomphe, the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower, among others. During an unscheduled moment, a few of the students had the opportunity to step out of the role of tourist when a local boy and his friends suggested they shoot soccer goals together in a park, said rising senior Vincent Yokley “When our free time was almost up and we began to leave, that boy told us, ‘Francia will win the World Cup’ — and sure enough, they did,” he said.
Lauren Ryan, a rising junior, said she’d always remember looking back at the Eiffel Tower after their visit there: “The tower’s lights started to flash in the night sky, making it sparkle,” she said.
Lauderdale agreed. “Just being able to see all of Paris with the sun setting behind it and the river right in front of it... was just beautiful and something I will never forget.”
The group tasted cheese and chocolate in Lucerne; saw Brunelleschi’s Duomo and Palazzo Vecchio in Florence; toured the Sistine Chapel and the Colosseum in Rome; and visited the lost city of Pompeii in Sorrento.
“It seems like every new city and place we visited became the favorite of the trip,” Groover said, but he noted that Pompeii will always stand out to him as fascinating. “To actually see what a first-century thriving Roman city looked like was incredible,” he said.
Submerging oneself into new cultures through travel helps one to understand the diversity of the human experience, Groover said.
“The English, the French, the Swiss and the Italians all do life a little differently, but I felt my own life and experience to be enriched and fuller through experiencing these cultures,” he said. “I believe it did the same thingfor our students.” Yokley provided affirmation. “The biggest thing I took away from the trip is how massive and unique the world around us is,” he said. “This trip gave me a small taste of what the world has to offer, and it is up to us to take advantage of any opportunity we have to see the rest of the world.”
Brookwood School
Located in Thomasville, GA, Brookwood School is a private school for grades JK-12. Students benefit from a challenging academic program, fine and performing arts, competitive athletics, and a wide selection of extracurricular activities.