"The value of travel is seeing the history of places that we learned about in world history and art class, and experiencing the local cultures." - KMS world history teacher Andrew Sias
This summer, Kingsley Middle School's Travel Club ventured on an Adriatic Odyssey to Italy and Greece to see history come to life.
Five students, four parents, and Kingsley Middle School world history teacher Andrew Sias and art teacher Elizabeth Lakin attended the trip, organized and led by EF Tours.
Their ten-day adventure included guided tours of Vatican City, the Colosseum, multiple historic sites in Florence, Delphi, the Temple of Apollo, the Acropolis, and more. Their group traveled on a tour bus with an expert local guide who offered valuable insight and history about each location.
In addition to their guided stops, students and their families had free time to explore and sample the local cuisine. Mr. Sias says students learned just as much during free time as they did during the tour stops.
"Traveling like this has challenges, and I think it brings about a lot of growth in the kids, it raises their level of independence and confidence because as we look back on this trip, we're like, 'wow, we just did that,'" said Mr. Sias.
Read on to learn more about the Travel Club's 2022 Adriatic Odyssey!
Rome, Italy
"In Rome, we talked about the death of Julius Caesar and saw the place where he was assassinated. We were at the Colosseum. We talked about Christianity, and that there was a period of time in Roman history where Christians were persecuted. We went to the Vatican Museum and we saw the sculptures of the time when Christianity became the Roman Empire's official religion," said Mr. Sias.
Florence, Italy
"Florence was absolutely my favorite because it's the birthplace of the Renaissance. It's where all these artists and writers were from, it's where DaVinci painted the Mona Lisa. If you want to use pop culture terms, you see will see all four Ninja Turtles - Michelangelo, Leonardo [DaVinci] Donatello, and Raphael," said chaperone and KMS art teacher Elizabeth Lakin.
Greece
"When we were in Greece, we went to the Meteora monasteries. I think for most people, that was probably one of the highlights that we didn't expect to be a highlight, because it was just so breathtakingly beautiful. The rock formations were unlike anything I've ever seen in the world, and on top of these rock formations, there were several monasteries. The one that we went into was incredible. There were paintings covering the walls on the inside of the church there, and we learned the artist is still alive and he started working on the paintings 50 years ago!" said Mr. Sias.
"They were up on these high, high cliffs, and you're like, 'how the heck did they even build this?!'" said Mrs. Lakin. "I think the students were really taken by the sculptures. It was fun, because for many of them, it was their first time out of the country."
Next Summer: London and Paris
The Travel Club's inaugural trip started a tradition Mr. Sias hopes to continue for many summers. Next year, he is planning to take students and chaperones to London and Paris on a guided trip with the EF Tours. Click here to see the itinerary and find out more trip details.
So far, 21 people have signed up. Interested students or parents who wish to attend should contact Mr. Sias at asias@kingsleyschools.org.
A big thank you to our parents and the community for their help with fundraising.
"Kingsley always says 'Kingsley Strong' right? Well to be able to take that attitude of Kingsley Strong and take it across the world and bring it back, I think of just how lucky we are and to be from a small town and to be able to experience something like this." - Mrs. Lakin
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