AHS Travels to Portugal this Spring Break

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March 20, 2023
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By Samantha Sun and Saarvi Deshwal
STAFF WRITERS

46 juniors and seniors will be attending the 2023 trip to Portugal this upcoming April vacation.

The trip is organized and planned by Brian Shea, an English teacher at AHS. “I think oftentimes we get so caught up in our lives that we believe the world is very small and that our town is everything. I want them to see how big the world is, and the possibilities they have, [and also] give them some hope and a vision for what’s possible,” Shea said. “I hope they see themselves as part of a world.”

The cost for the Portugal trip was $4,404, more than the price of student trips abroad in recent years. The trips usually last for ten to eleven days over Spring Break. The travel plans are to take a flight to Europe and a bus to their destination in Portugal.

Shea presented the Portugal Trip to the school committee to gain approval in December of 2021. As one of the teachers who organizes AHS international travel opportunities for students, he talks to the administration and parents, along with advertising to the juniors and seniors. “I try to do something different every year, [I do the] research, I look for a good price, [and] good value for families,” said Shea.

“Portugal right now is pretty hot in terms of travel,” said Shea. “A lot of people are choosing Portugal for its culture, food, art, music. It’s got a vibrancy [and] a rich history.”

Students will be staying in clean, air-conditioned hotels with their peers. They will be busy with activities such as sightseeing, guided tours, and museum visits. “[I am excited to see] the castles, monuments, and historical places,” said junior Raghav Tewari, who will be attending the trip. “[I signed up because] a lot of [my] friends signed up, and I enjoy traveling.”

There are many compelling things to look forward to as a teacher, but Shea said his “favorite part is really just watching the students see and experience [a new] world culture for the first time. [Students want to learn] when they’re traveling and seeing different cultures, [they] are more engaged.”

Planning begins one and a half years prior to the trips. Trips to Italy in 2024 and a 2025 trip to Thailand have already been planned. Students are welcome to sign up by reaching out to Shea. Andover High collaborates with a program called Education First Tours (EF Tours), from which students can enroll for the trip and deposit their money to secure their place. Once the trip is full, a waitlist is kept, if any student were to leave the trip.

“Our tours are educational, with the goal of expanding student perspectives and experiences, and setting them up for success in an interconnected world, through travel,” said Aubrey, a representative at EF Tours. The entire itinerary is planned out, while students do get some downtime, a detailed schedule is arranged beforehand by EF tours.

Last year’s trip for 2022 was to Iceland. “The landscape was unlike anything I’d ever seen in person. It felt like we were on a different planet,” said senior Grace Jungmann. She said her time in Iceland was memorable as it shaped her perspective on renewable energy from power plants. “This was really eye opening for me. Geothermal power isn’t an option everywhere, of course, but it really made me feel like sustainable energy is a reasonable possibility for the future,” Jungmann noted.

These excursions are aimed to teach students about new ideas, possibilities, and all the while enjoying a different culture and environment.

Andoverview

AHS Class of 2026 Graduation: A Sentiment of Gratitude

June 11, 2026

Abby Chachus & Kendall Murphy || STAFF WRITERS

A hush falls as a sea of navy gowns, a rising tide of Andover High School graduates enters the Tsongas Center just before 5 o’clock on June 1, 2026. There is something distinct about moments like these. A goodbye that is bittersweet among both the audience and the seniors.

According to Graduation Committee member Ella Murphy, it is a goodbye to “Halloween costume competitions that never disappoint, lunches, wrap lines and vending machine trips,” seemingly inconsequential things, but the memories will stick with all of the students as they move on to their future endeavors.

The graduation speakers shared the value of these moments and their gratitude for the people that helped them along the way. As the ceremony commenced, the opening speakers Zachery Pan and Murphy welcomed everyone and encouraged them to acknowledge their shared experiences at Andover High School. “These moments, these memories, these faces. None of us got here alone.” said Pan.

Their speech gave time to deliver some truly meaningful thank you’s, “beyond the formalities” as Murphy put it, to the teachers and staff that showed up each day with “patience, support, and dedication.” Furthermore, they recognized that this gratitude is not solely meant for the significant ceremonies.

“Gratitude is kind of strange. We tend to save it for the big moments. The ceremonies, the stages, the audiences,” said Murphy.

“But let’s be honest—the people who actually changed your life probably weren’t standing on a stage when they did it,” continued Pan.

They concluded the speech with a request to the graduates to thank those who changed their lives in both the big and small moments, even if it feels unnecessary.

Before graduation, other seniors expressed similar thoughts, like reflecting on the journey that got them to where they are today.

“To all my teachers: thank you for everything. I would not be here without any single one of you.” said Christopher Reardon.

Thomas Enman advised underclassmen to “just enjoy every little minute you get at AHS.”

Vignesha Jayakumar, class essayist and valedictorian, echoed this same sentiment of appreciation, reinforcing Reardon’s message about the lasting impact of teachers and support systems. “We were galvanized from a community of supportive teachers and staff who didn’t just teach us subjects, they taught us how to think, how to question, how to care,” said Jayakumar.

He also mentioned the importance of one learning from their fellow graduates. “We learned as much from each other in the hallways and the bleachers as we did in the classroom,” he said.

After Jayakumar, Graduation Committee members Ben Pelt and Kari Belson spoke. First, Pelt announced the Class of 2026’s class gift to AHS. Next, Belson named Scott Armstrong the 2026 Distinguished Citizen (see page 4).

When Principal Jimmy D’Andrea took the stage, he, like all the other speakers, expressed the value of gratitude, a central theme that resonated throughout the ceremony. He began by thanking each group that got each member of the graduating class to where they were standing in the Tsongas Center, about to leave the comfort of being an AHS student and moving onto becoming alumni, highlighting the strong support system and sense of community that defined the graduating class’s journey.

He also encouraged each graduate to “personally reach out and thank those individuals who made a difference in [their] lives,” reinforcing the ceremony’s message of appreciation, reflection, and recognition for the people who helped shape their high school experience.

Interim Superintendent Keith Taverna encouraged graduates to continue to make the community proud with the positive impact they will bring to the world.

To conclude the ceremony, Graduation Committee members Chloe Ahn and Margaret Farabaugh brought everyone together one last time. “Tonight we stand together because of the strong and spirited community we have built,” said Ahn.

Ahn concluded, “As we become graduates of Andover High School, we step into the world with purpose, passion, and pride… Congratulations class of 2026!”

Students, Faculty Travel to Scandinavia Over Spring Break

June 11, 2026

Samin Faiz || STAFF WRITER

Forty-two Andover High School students and seven chaperones visited Scandinavia this April.

After a six-hour flight from Boston to Reykjavík, Iceland, followed by a two-hour flight to Oslo, Norway, the group began their ten-day-long tour the Thursday before spring break. Through a combination of bus rides, overnight ferries, and countless miles on foot, the group made their way through five Northern European countries: Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, and Estonia.

“I’ve been traveling with students since 2005, so this might be my 17th tour,” said Brian Shea, English teacher, organizer, and chaperone of the trip. “We’ve now done all of Europe, so Northern Europe was sort of our last frontier.”

Apart from the chaperones, the group was accompanied by a tour director named Yulia, whom Shea worked closely with to structure the daily itinerary and ensure a smooth trip.

In Scandinavia, English is widely spoken, so the language barrier was never a problem for the group. Sometimes, however, the students made connections in ways that transcend the spoken word.

“I played soccer with a bunch of people in Sweden,” recalled Hannah Arnold, a junior who participated in the trip. “That was probably the highlight of the trip for me.”

Arnold is no stranger to international travel. Just two months earlier, in fact, she joined her classmates on another school trip to Peru over winter break. However, for her twin sister, Grace Arnold, this was a brand-new experience.

“I met a lot of new people that I’ve never met before, especially people not in my grade,” Grace said. “It was really nice because I met a lot of great people through that and got to spend time with people I wouldn’t usually get to spend time with.”

The trip offered a flexible balance of group tours and independent exploration. “We had a lot of free time,” Grace noted. “We got to explore cities on our own and shop where we wanted. As long as you stayed in groups of three or more, you were free to roam the city.”

Students observed the region’s distinct economic models. Through agreements within the European Union and the Nordic Council, higher education is heavily subsidized or entirely free for regional citizens.

“It’s really interesting. They tax wealthier people a lot more and their overall tax rates are a lot higher,” one student observed. “The way they reinvest money back into infrastructure contributes to stronger public infrastructure. Education and health care are free, and they even offer stipends to cover the cost of living. Essentially, you pay a lot of taxes, but you get a lot in return.”

Students also noticed the societal impact of these safety nets. “Their unhoused population is significantly lower. If you want help, those systems are available to support you.”

The travelers’ curiosity and maturity left a strong impression on the faculty.

“These kids were wonderful,” said Shea. “All of the students were engaged. They were paying attention. They were enjoying it. They were wonderful travelers. To me, that was the biggest thrill.”

With the preparations for next year’s destinations already underway, the future of travel programs at AHS seems to be brimming with opportunities.

“Next year, we have two tours,” said Shea. “We’re running one tour to Barcelona and Madrid in February, and then we’re running another tour to Greece in April.”

Such opportunities are often highly selective at other schools, but luckily, these trips remain open to the entire student body at AHS.

“There’s no application process,” Shea emphasized. “We’re not looking at grades. We’re not looking at behavioral records. Anybody can sign up when we offer these tours. I put them out there, and I’m like, ‘If you want to go, come.’”

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AHS Travels to Portugal this Spring Break

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