Taber students experience culture of Portugal
Students from St. Mary’s and W.R. Myers in Taber recently returned from a trip to Portugal and the teachers who accompanied them gave the trip rave reviews, but it’s the pictures that speak volumes.
Carolyn Siemens, a teacher and coach at St. Mary’s said, “We joined up with the W.R. Myers travel group for this trip. Our tour was to travel all of Portugal starting in the north and ending in the south.”
Nine students in Grades 11 and 12 made the trip together, accompanied by two teachers and three parents. “We travelled from Calgary to Minneapolis and we had a seven-and-a-half hour layover so we took the train to the Mall of America,” Siemens explained. “Our next flight took us to Amsterdam where we had a ten-and-a-half hour layover, so EF Tours sent us a tour guide and we were able to do a walking tour of Amsterdam and a canal cruise. That evening we took our final flight into Porto, Portugal.” The Myers group had different flight itineraries than St. Mary’s, but they all connected on the other side.
“Each day we had a different destination and saw highlights of the destinations,” Siemens said.
The students had the chance to tour churches, monasteries, palaces, as well as take a river cruise and spend time on the beaches.
“Travelling is so great for students, to be able to see Europe, learn history, utilize the various transit, see other cultures, learn about the industries there, and experience the food. The list goes on and on. It really is a life changing experience for most students, and very relevant to their high school courses they are taking.”