April 2023 Portugal Trip Announced

• May 23, 2022

Dane Connor
STAFF WRITER

Brian Shea announced that the next Education First (EF) trip for Andover High School will be to Portugal on April 14, 2023. 

EF Tours is a company that brings many schools on tours through different countries for educational purposes and to allow students to experience different cultures.

The trip is scheduled to be 10 days long with room for about 40 students to attend. The trip recently filled up with its original amount, but people are still able to pay a fee of $100 to be added to the waitlist if spots open up for the trip.

Brian Shea, an AHS English teacher, had been doing trips with EF for a few years and just came back recently from a trip to Iceland. 

Shea described his thoughts of how he may improve this EF trip compared to the next one. He said that each group of students are different, and each trip is a different experience, so he would have to wait and see. “I would like to work on how students prepare to engage with another culture and the travel experience as a whole,” said Shea. 

Shea then described why he decided to go to Portugal for the next EF trip: he was drawn in by the different culture and the rich history of the country and was very excited when he was given the opportunity. “Rich history. Beautiful art and architecture. Vibrant culture. Mediterranean climate. What more can you ask for?” said Shea.

Shea is anticipating learning about new and interesting facts that he may have not known otherwise. He enjoys giving students this opportunity to travel and learn skills to use in their daily lives. “I love watching the students engage with the culture and learn in a way that can’t be replicated in the classroom,” he said.

AHS junior Anya Gupta went on the Iceland trip and reflected on her experiences. “Every single day on the trip was so different and I learned a lot about Iceland and was able to experience many unique things,” said Gupta. The trip offered an interesting experience for students and allowed them to learn more about different cultures otherwise they wouldn’t have traveled to.

Gupta said that making every day as memorable as possible makes the trip much more enjoyable. She said being outgoing and trying new things makes for the best trip. “My advice would be to really take in every moment,” Gupta commented.