By Megan Kelley
Review Writer
LAKE ORION — During its meeting on June 28, the Lake Orion Community Schools Board of Education approved the district’s first international trip for Lake Orion High School students.
Wendy Baeckeroot, a history teacher at the high school, joined the board during its June 14 meeting to present the proposal for an international trip that would have students traveling to London, Paris and Normandy for 10 days in June 2024.
For years now, Baeckeroot has been looking to implement an international travel program at the school, said Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning Heidi Mercer.
“For a long time there were fears about 9/11 and there were a lot of people that weren’t on board but, one of the things I’ve always told my students is…they always say ‘Mrs. B., when you were growing up what would you have done different?’ And I always say I would have traveled more because travel is really a skill. It’s not just necessarily pack your bags, get on the plane and go – you have to know some things. It’s a life skill and I don’t think there’s a better way to bring the world to life than to go experience it,” Baeckeroot said.
Baeckeroot has been a part of several out-of-state trips with LOHS, including trips to New York, but has always been hoping to go further.
“I thought kind of a safe destination for our first international trip would be London and Paris,” Baeckeroot said. “London, obviously because of the English language and Paris because if we’re there, if we’re so close, why not just skip over the English Channel too and hit Paris. And it just so happens that next year is going to be the 80th anniversary of D-Day so, I found a lot of trips were including Normandy as part of the itinerary and I thought this would be a great opportunity for our kids to kind of see those beaches and kind of relive that moment as well.”
Though Baeckeroot is a history teacher, she is not looking to make the trip a class specific trip, which means it would be open to any student who is interested. The plan would be to have one chaperone per every six students traveling, and would likely include a mix of teachers and parents if they are also interested.
The program the trip would run through would be EF Educational Tours, a travel company that specializes in operating student group tours.
“I do believe that EF is one of the best for international travel. They’re very highly regarded. They’re very well insured should anything go wrong. There have been instances where they’ve had to move kids because of something happening with an itinerary and they just do everything flawlessly. So, I just thought this would be a great tour company to start with especially because, again, the first time, there’s probably going to be a little bit of nervousness, there might be a little bit of hesitation but this is a company that I’ve worked with before and I 100 percent trust,” Baeckeroot said.
The 10-day trip would cost $4,999 per student; however, Baeckeroot hopes to make fundraising opportunities available and notes that EF has programs where parents can go on payment plans.
The board unanimously approved the trip during its meeting on June 28.
With the district’s new strategic plan including international travel opportunities for students, this is the first international trip to be proposed for LOCS.
Other international trips are expected to be proposed to the board after the start of the 2023-24 school year, with international travel opportunities being something the district hopes to provide each year moving forward.