By: Glenda H. Caudle Special Features Editor
Posted: Wednesday, November 25, 2009 5:50 pm
By GLENDA H. CAUDLE
Special Features Editor
From St. Paul’s to St. Peter’s.
Those are the parameters for a second all-expense-paid European journey for a group of students from Obion County.
Youth looking for a relaxing vacation at the beach would probably not be attracted to this summer adventure, but more than 30 members of the Class of 2011 from Union City, Obion County Central and South Fulton high schools were intrigued by the idea of a non-stop trip abroad that would offer opportunities to explore, experience and expand.
The overwhelming majority of those who attended one of two information sessions about the trip with their parents a few weeks ago went on to complete the application process, which included appearing before a group of Rotary Club members experienced in conducting interviews with young people seeking the organization’s support for their educational futures through the well-known scholarship program.
This time, however, the interview team was seeking the students most likely to benefit from the free European tour. They also took into account whether the students’ families could support such an adventure themselves (those who could make that commitment were not considered for the free trip, at the specific request of the donors in the club who wanted to provide an opportunity some students could not otherwise enjoy). The interview team also took into account whether the teens had indicated by past performance that they could be relied upon for good standards of behavior, punctuality, respect for authority and an ability to contribute to the welfare of the traveling group. And, of course, the students had to convince the Rotary Club members they really, really, really wanted to go on the trip.
Ten students — eight from Union City and one each from South Fulton and Obion County Central — made the final cut and were notified of their selection Monday morning as some members of the trip committee and the trip’s 2010 chaperone, UCHS English teacher Joanna Wisener, visited their schools and delivered the good news.
From OCCHS, Alton Alexander got the nod. At SFHS, the lucky student is Jacob Cleaver. UCHS junior class travelers include Chase Bowling, Jasmine Davis, Antonio Cox, Kassadie Mullins, Trey Maddox, Cameryn Fishel, Lakevius Turner and Megan Hickman.
Also joining the group as a chaperone will be Mrs. Wisener’s husband, Clark.
The group will leave Union City June 15 and fly to London, where they will spend two nights and take in as many of the sights in the city as they can cram into the hours allotted. High on the list of “must-see” sites is St. Paul’s Cathedral. Then it’s on to Paris, courtesy of a ferry ride across the English Channel with a tour director from Cosmos Travel. After two nights in the City of Light, it will be on to Lake Lucerne in Switzerland — an area described by those who participated in the June 2009 trip as the most beautiful they had ever seen. After two nights there, the group will board their tour bus again, joining travelers from around the world, and head southeast into Italy, where they will spend two nights in the Venice area, an evening in Pisa and two nights in Rome — where a visit to St. Peter’s is on the agenda — before returning home June 27.
All their expenses will be paid. Their trip “package” includes the cost of their passports; a pair of brightly-colored Union City Rotary Club shirts to be worn by everyone in the group on the day of departure and the day they return home; special backpacks emblazoned with the Rotary Club emblem; identical travel document holders to keep passports, tickets, identification, funds and travel info handy; travel journals for each participant to record their impressions on the trip; transportation to the Memphis airport and back home again; plane fare to Europe and back again; the cost of the Cosmos tour itself; funds for meals not covered by the packaged tour; trip insurance; gratuities for the Cosmos tour guide and bus driver; and a little “mad money” to enable the group to participate in special extras not included in the pre-paid tour itself.
Students have been advised they can also hold some group fund-raisers to sweeten that kitty for entrance to locales and events that are not part of the regular trip.
What happens now?
In between now and the time the students leave, they will be busy preparing for the trip.
A part of their commitment is to complete research assignments on the cities and countries they will visit and to meet together several times to discuss the sites they want to make sure they include on their journey and to learn the ins and outs of successful, safe and economical travel. To that end, Mrs. Wisener has already linked the group through the wonders of technology and has begun setting up learning sessions with UCHS art teacher Hilary Webb, who will be providing information on art and architecture that will be part of the trip; and with Dr. Stan Sieber and his wife, Sarah, from Martin. Sieber is a history professor at the University of Tennessee at Martin and regularly chaperones and guides groups of UTM students and others interested in travel-learning experiences in Europe. The Siebers’ expertise stood the 2009 travel group in good stead as they prepared for the first Rotary-sponsored trip last summer. Their discussions with the students focused on background information for the sites on the tour, trip safety issues, handling foreign currency, bag-packing hints and courtesy and good travel manners. Linda Aaron from Travel One in Union City, the company that works with the Rotary Club travel committee to plan the trip, will also be available to speak to the group and will be invited to attend the pre-trip family picnic a week or so before the actual adventure begins. At that session, to which the students’ families are invited, last-minute questions will be answered and schedules for travel will be finalized. Parents are also invited to attend the study sessions that will be held each month.
Students will receive their first research assignments in time to complete some of the work over the Christmas holidays, Mrs. Wisener has promised.
Students will not be allowed to take their own cell phones or laptops on the trip, but they will stay in daily contact with the folks back home through a group phone and a parental calling tree. A different student will call home each evening and report on the day’s activities and the parent who receives the call will then contact all the other parents on the list. A call will also go out to The Messenger each day so readers can share in the students’ experiences on a daily basis.
Once the group returns home, they will appear at a Rotary Club meeting to report on the trip and will also be available to speak to other civic groups, as well as students in their own schools. Members of the 2009 European trip were an important part of the sessions conducted by the Rotary Club trip committee to entice this year’s junior class at the three high schools into applying for the trip.
Eight students from UCHS, chaperoned by the school’s vice principal, Jacob Cross, and his wife, Emily, were the first group of students to be selected to enjoy the free European trip. The local Rotary Club entrusted two of its members — Dr. Leland Davis and Clay Woods — with planning that June 2009 adventure. With only a few days of “making arrangements” time available by the time the team learned the funds were being offered, the pair quickly gathered a team of club members and education-minded adults to put that first trip together. The group included Rotarians Gary Houston, who is also director of schools for Union City, and Tim Shanks, Kevin Herrell and Richard Graham. Rounding out the committee who oversaw the planning were UCHS guidance counselor Winnie Logan, classroom/curriculum coordinator Vicki Wilkinson and this reporter, who is a member of the Union City School Board. While school personnel helped plan the trip and establish the guidelines and goals, they were not part of the selection team who narrowed down the applicants and made the final choices.
In the winter of 2009, because of time constraints and the groundbreaking nature of the trip, only students from the UCHS Class of 2010 were selected. With a successful venture under their belts and some additional funding, the trip planning team expanded the scope and added two additional students this time. In keeping with the original plan to extend the privilege to students across Obion County, the team enlarged the planning committee to include Obion County Director of Schools David Huss, supervisor of instruction for Obion County School System high schools Nancy Hamilton and assistant director of schools for Obion County School System James Faulkner and brought on board OCCHS guidance counselor Kay Cooper and SFHS guidance counselor Pam Burrow to help in making contact with the students and aiding them in the application process. Five junior students each from OCCHS and SFHS submitted applications for the single spots open from each of those schools.
Trip planning committee members say they hope to continue to increase the number of juniors who can take advantage of the trip each year.
Meet the travelers
Joanna and Clark Wisener will be in charge of the students on the trip. The Wiseners are the parents of Claire, who is 9 years old and a fourth-grader at Union City Elementary School, and Leah, a 6-year-old who is a first-grader at UCES. Mrs. Wisener teaches English 12, Advanced Placement English Literature and U.S. History at UCHS and is the Junior Civitan sponsor.
Clark is a self-employed corporate pilot and flight instructor and a partner in Wisener Farms Inc.
Their parents are Pam and Greg Hendrick of Murray, Ky., and the late Ken Lee of Troy and David and Becky Wisener of Rives and Jan and Frank Luallen of Gadsden, Ala.
Both are OCCHS graduates. Mrs. Wisener received her bachelor’s degree in education in 1998 and is a member of the Tennessee Council of Teachers of English, the National Council of Teachers of English and the Union City, the Tennessee and the National education associations.
She enjoys reading and scrapbooking. Wisener claimed his degree in agricultural science from UTM in 1997 and enjoys avaition, camping, fishing and hunting.
“I am looking forward to seeing the historical landmarks we will be visiting, especially in Rome,” Wisener says. Mrs. Wisener is excited about seeing London and says she can’t wait to experience the culture and history of Europe for the first time and to share this experience with such a great group of students.
“We are very grateful to be chosen as chaperones for this trip and appreciate the Rotary Club for making this trip possible,” the Wiseners say.
UCHS Class of 2011 students making the trip in June 2010 will include:
• Megan Hickman, who is the daughter of George and Betty Hickman of Union City. Raised in foster care in Florida, she has several adopted brothers and sisters but is “closest” to Jerry Elmore, who lives in Florida.
“I want to prove you don’t have to have a perfect past to succeed and I want to show the world that there is hope for our generataion,” she says. Rather than buildings or geological formations, the “must see” item for Miss Hickman is a four-legged creature she would probably never encounter at home. “I’m looking forward to catching sight of a Burmese Mountain dog when we are in the Swiss Alps. I’ve heard they are used there instead of draft horses for many jobs.”
• Lakevius Turner, who is the son of Genika Turner of Fulton and the grandson of Jeffery and Genice Parchman. “I wanted to attend because I am extremely interested in European culture. I enjoy the architecture, foods and customs of other countries and I am looking forward to seeing the Louvre, the Colosseum and the Arc de Triomphe.”
• Cameryn Fishel, who is the daughter of Eric and Camielle Fishel of Union City. “This trip is a wonderful opportunity. It will increase my knowledge of so many things. I am looking forward to Paris the most because it looks like an absolutely beautiful city and I can’t wait to learn as much as I can about it.”
• Trey Maddox, who is the son of Shirley Carter of Union City and Eric Maddox of South Fulton. He is also the brother of Kelli Maddox and Matthew Maddox. “I’m looking forward to Paris, too. This is the opportunity of a lifetime,” he says.
• Kassadie Mullins, who is the daughter of Regina Mullins and the granddaughter of Doris Dodd, both of Union City. She says, “For me, the thing I look forward to most is seeing the Eiffel Tower and Big Ben. This trip will broaden my knowledge of other countries’ history and way of life.”
• Antonio Cox, who is the grandson of David and Mary Cox of Union City. He wants to gain as much knowledge as possible about Europe. “It is a once-in-a-lifetime chance for some people, such as myself, and it will give me a better chance to learn more about other places in the world in a more personal way,” he sums it up.
• Jasmine Davis, who is the daughter of Lataya Davis of Union City and Eric Johnson of Roswell, Ga. Her grandparents are Tony and Pam Davis and Linda Robinson and she is the sister of Laprahsa Fair, Shacowa McElrath and Quantavius Pettigrew. “I’m looking forward to France the most. I figured this would be a once-in-a-lifetime trip and a great learning experience that I wanted to take part in,” she says in response to a question about her reason for applying for the trip.
• Chase Bowling, who is the son of Darren and Dawn Bowling of Union City. His siblings include Meri-Morgan Bowling, Taylor Bowling and Tyler Bowling. “I’m looking forward to all the amazing sites and learning the history behind these places. It is an experience that could change my life and it has always been a dream of mine to go to Europe.”
SFHS will be represented by:
• Jacob Cleaver, the son of Bernadette and Brad Wecker of South Fulton and Carmen Cleaver of Baltimore, Md. He is the brother of Zachary Cleaver, Mackenzie Cleaver and Joshua Wecker and the cousin of Kimberley Hummel. He says he is most looking forward to learning about the different cultures. “I applied for the trip because it is such a great opportunity,” he says.
Obion County Central High School’s student traveler will be:
• Alton Alexander, the son of Travis and Laurie Alexander of Hornbeak and the grandson of Joan Alexander of Union City and Mary Tucker of Tiptonville. He is the brother of Adam Alexander and Grace Alexander. “Since I was a very young child, I have always wanted to visit Europe and once I heard about this Rotary-sponsored trip, I knew I could not turn down this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” he says. “Although all parts of this trip will be remarkable, I am most looking forward to experiencing Paris and seeing the Eiffel Tower.”
Published in The Messenger 11.25.09
:Article Source:nwtntoday.com
No comments:
Post a Comment