Eagle Butte European trip a mashup of history and modern day
Ingrid Rose, teacher at Eagle Butte, and her husband Alan have been planning trips abroad for more than 15 years. Last month, they took a group of students to Greece, Turkey and Rome, a trip that was originally supposed to happen in 2020.
The highlight of the trip for Kamea Clark was visiting all the temples and acropolis in Athens.
“Seeing how massive they were and how much is left.”
The group visited five islands and her favourite was watching the sunset in Santorini, Greece.
Jaxson Fischer wanted to experience different cultures.
“Where we got to see, that’s where all of Western civilization came from, that’s quite interesting.”
His favourite island was also Santorini because, “Being on a split open volcano in the middle of the ocean is hard to top.”
Favourite memory for Eric Stock was getting up with a couple of friends and wailing out “Great Balls of Fire” during karaoke night on the cruise ship which took them to all the islands. In Turkey, the group visited a leather factory and were treated to a fashion show, which Stock, Rose and a couple of others participated in.
“They pull us to the back,” said Stock. “We put on jackets and walked down the runway and everyone was taking photos. We were doing poses and strutting. It was a really cool experience.”
Due to a flight delay, the group got an extra morning in Rome. In Turkey all the ruins are kept separate from modern buildings.
“What I thought Rome was going to be was what Turkey was,” said Fischer. “Whereas in Rome, the whole city was built around the ruins. Right in front of you is the Colosseum, which is one of the coolest possible things that you can ever witness, and you turn around and it’s just a city.”
Stock added, “There was a Big Apple billboard right beside it with an iPhone 14 ad. You are in this big building full of history and you look out to the side and there are ads for day-to-day items.”
Clark was amazed by how large the Vatican was and how detailed the statues were.
“It was amazing to see how old everything was, but it was all sitting out in the open.”
On Easter Sunday the group got to go inside St. Peter’s Basilica.
“The Basilica was so extraordinary,” said Fischer. “Even if we didn’t get to see it on Sunday, just being on the outside of it on Saturday was by far the most extraordinary thing I’ve every looked at. I was happy with just that but then we got to go back on Sunday and go inside.”
Superintendent Reagan Weeks was also on the trip and presented her observations to the board at the May 9 meeting. She was impressed with how organized the trip was and how much the students got to experience.