As DePaul Prep grows, so do its experiential learning opportunities. The school offers many chances for students to go on educational trips to countries across the globe. However, these have previously been only tour-based and open to the entire student body for participation. Just this last month though, DePaul Prep held its very first two exchange trips to Milan, Italy and Nice, France.
The Milan exchange trip was a group of International Baccalaureate seniors shadowing IB students at Collegio San Carlo, a highschool in Italy. Students attended classes and mass with their host students, really taking in the ability to experience Italian culture.
DePaul Prep director of student activities and organizer of this trip, Christopher Petersen, feels that this experience was important for students. “I think it’s always valuable to see how another school, especially one from a completely different country and culture, conducts their educational school day and school system,” he shared.
In Nice, non-IB students had a similar experience shadowing French high school students on their school day. Trip chaperone and organizer, Heather Meindl, shares a belief similar to Petersen on the impact of this activity. She shares, “I think students saw in France that the student teacher relationships are much more formal. I think it made them appreciate the closeness that they have with their American teachers and also how American pedagogues are more interested in collaboration, whereas the French system is more traditional.”
“I think an unanticipated gift is that it makes students appreciate what they have,” she added.
Not only did DePaul Prep students shadow their hosts at school, but spent nights with them as well. This gave students the opportunity to learn about culture in a new country by immersing themselves in life there firsthand.
Petersen shared that, “It takes a special type of respect to be in a foreign country and to be completely away from your friend group and family, and to be in a different culture in someone else’s house.”
Petersen added that he felt this was the most important part of the trip. “Watching students develop friendships in four days was awesome to see and very touching,” he said.
Senior Ezra Quintero shares that this factor was really important to him in his experience. “What I mostly did was hang out with my host and her friends, and walk around Milan to enjoy the city. I met a lot of really nice people,” he said.
In addition to the two trips being dedicated to spending time with host students, excursions played an important role. The Milan group toured nearby Turin and Lake Como areas, spending time at The National Museum of Cinema and taking a ride on a boat tour. The Nice group spent their days walking along the Mediterranean ocean, creating new scents at a private perfume workshop, and exploring Roman ruins.
“My favorite day was the day in Antibes. It was a Saturday, 65 degrees and sunny. Not a cloud in the sky. In between museums and other stuff, we just walked along the ocean. Just having conversations with the students and appreciating where we were was an organic feeling,” Meindl shared about her time in France.
Due to the success of these two trips, more exchange trips will most likely be in DePaul Prep’s future.
“We’ve always been trying to expand our programming and just had two opportunities fall into our lap that we cultivated and built upon. We hope these last for years. We really enjoy and hope that those relationships grow,” Petersen stated.
Junior Abbey Arseneau reflects on her time in Nice. “I learned how to push my boundaries a bit, since there were a lot of new foods and customs. I definitely think that DePaul should keep doing these trips, because I had so much fun. I made a lot of new friends and a lot of memories,” she shared.
