Thirteen local kids will be traveling in June to Greece and Italy for 12 days in a trip that could impact the rest of their lives.
Local chaperon Kim McDonald said the youngsters, ranging in age from 17-20, are eager to share their experiences and adventures upon their return home.
“It’s all very eye opening and could change the kids’ futures,” McDonald said. Lisa West will also accompanying the teens.
The group has been raising funds for the trip for about two years. Fundraisers included a silent auction, servicing a local wedding, and raffles. The kids also will pay out of pocket to be able to go on this trip.
Three of the youngsters were involved in a previous trip to Costa Rica, where McDonald said they were “inspired by the culture, and it really was a life changing experience. They are going to be learning so much on this trip.” These trips are organized about every two years by chaperones Kim McDonald and Lisa West, who themselves pay out of pocket to go on this trip.
The chaperones said they were also very excited about the kids going on the trip this year.
“We’re going with just the neatest group of kids, they’re all really bright,” said McDonald. Most of the teens have already graduated high school, and are taking the trip to learn more about the outside world, and different cultures. The group plans to take more trips like this to educate kids and give them the learning experience of a lifetime. Although it is too late to sign up for this trip, the group is already beginning to plan another trip, possibly a tour of Holocaust areas.
The group will fly out of Duluth on June 24 and land in Amsterdam where they will fly to Athens, Greece, overnight. While in the city that day they will visit the Olympic Stadium, the Acropolis, the Parthenon, and the temples of Athena and Nike. That evening they will attend a Greek festival where there will be entertainment, Greek cuisine, traditional dancing, and musicians playing bouzoukis, a traditional Greek stringed instrument.
The group will then travel to Delphi for a tour, and visit the Temple of Apollo, and tour the Delphi Museum. Afterward they will travel overnight to Ancona on a large ferry where the kids will have their own small bedrooms. After they arrive in Ancona, they will travel to the city of Florence, Italy. There they will see the Piatza de la Senora, the Ponte Vecchio , the Chiesa di Sant Croce, the Gates of Paradise, and the Duomo, a cathedral in Florence. The kids will also participate in a leather making demonstration.
