This year some members of the CHS Latin class vacationed in Italy over spring break.

The group consisted of 11 students and the Latin teachers at CHS, Stephen Meier and Pamela Skinner.

It was expensive trip and required a certain amount of preparation. The trip took about a year to plan, and this is the first year that students and teachers were able to actually go.

“I didn’t go because it was too expensive and my parents wouldn’t let me out of the country by myself,” junior Kara Kratcha said. “They said if I went they’d have to go too, I was kind of sad looking through everybody’s pictures, it looked really fun.”

The plane left St. Louis on Friday, March 19, and the student arrived in Milan about a day later. They then drove through Milan to Venice, where they spent the first night. The trip quickly headed to Verona, Florence, Assisi, Rome, Sorrento, Capri, and then finally back to Rome. From the Italian capital the student returned to St. Louis via New York City.

“If we were to repeat the trip in the future I would do the same itinerary over 14 days instead of 10,” Meier said. “The constant traveling was difficult.”

“The one thing I really would have liked is to have more time,” sophomore Nia Charrington said. “It was a really cool trip, but we saw lots of places too quickly.”

“The trip was not designed for Latin students: with us was a group of Canadian students and a group from Arkansas, neither taking Latin,” Skinner said. “If Mr. Meier and I had planned the trip, we would have designed it to be more focused on Ancient culture. But it was a trade off: we got to see more things from the Renaissance and medieval times.”

Most of the Latin scholars found that one of their favorite parts of the trip were those that situated around the Ancient Roman culture.

“I liked Pompei best of all.” Nia Charrington said. “I wanted to spend more time in the forum.” Skinner said.

Considering it was the first year, even though the trip had a few kinks, the trip was very successful.

“We saw some great sights and the kids really enjoyed it,” Meier said. “I think they got a lot out of it. The students were very well behaved; it was a great group.”

“Every day the students would say that that day had to be the coolest day ever,” Skinner said. “The trip definitely escalated. Even the weather got better as the trip went on.”

Overall, many are excited that this might be incorporated as an annual CHS trip.