By immersing themselves in new cultures and experiences, students and faculty traveled to different European countries during the summer of 2025, gaining the opportunity to explore personal growth and diverse lifestyles.
Two different trips took place over the summer.
The first trip was to Italy for a history-based trip. For the second trip, students traveled to Bosnia, Croatia, and Germany to explore conflict and leadership.
Eighty-eight students and 13 chaperones, traveled the entire Italian peninsula, starting up north in Venice and ending in Capri.
Social studies teacher Nicole Harner was the trip creator and organizer.
Harner teaches about different cultures and places in the world. Traveling to various countries with her students is what she “envisioned” herself doing as a teacher.
“I just thought it was so neat to go to the places I was learning about, so I always had that passion,” Harner said.
According to Harner, a few activities she requested for the trip were a gondola ride in Venice and a hands-on pizza-making experience in Naples.
Harner also made sure each day was filled with one to two hours of free time for the students to explore.
“It’s just the idea of independence and going somewhere and taking that chance and seeing a new culture,” Harner said.
Harner firmly believes that student travel abroad allows for a more “immersive” way to educate students as they can see monuments like the Colosseum in Rome, the Statue of David in Florence, and travel by boats in Venice.
“It’s about the understanding and appreciation of different cultures,” Harner said.
Senior Katherine McClure’s favorite part of the trip was taking a guided tour of the Colosseum and interacting with Italian locals.
“There’s an exposure that you would never really get anywhere else,” McClure said. “You really get a new perspective.”
As for junior Camryn Waters, her most significant takeaway from the trip was being able to see everything she had learned in person, and gaining a better understanding and appreciation for history, which she couldn’t have achieved in a classroom.
The second European visit of the summer took place in three different countries: Bosnia, Croatia and Germany.
It revolved around conflict resolution and leadership and was called The Baltex tour.
Trip attendees visited the Childhood War Museum in Bosnia, the Olympic Ruins in Bosnia, which were used for war, and the Holocaust Museum in Berlin.
Video production teacher Brian Ruth was one of the teacher chaperones on this trip and felt each tour was powerful and educational.
“It’s humbling to see other cultures,” Ruth said. “If you grow up in one area, sometimes you can get close-minded.”
In Berlin, the students had the opportunity to attend the EF Global Leadership Summits.
When they were split into groups with students from all over the globe, they were given a prompt on how to make the world a better place in a changing and growing world.
According to Ruth, it helped the kids step outside their comfort zone as they had to work with kids from different cultures and come together to create one idea, which they presented to a room of hundreds of students and teachers.
Senior Ainsley Gehman initially felt it was a barrier to working with individuals due to their different lifestyles.
However, once they got to know each other and understand one another, it opened their eyes to different cultures.
According to Gehman, she found the overall experience to be “eye-opening” and learned a great deal about herself.
“It was so fun to be able to share how I feel about things with people I didn’t know,” Gehman said.
Both the Italian and Beltex trips ran through EF Educational Tours.
EF is also coordinating two other trips within the next two years at Souderton.
Greece is scheduled to take place June 2026, and a central Europe trip is planned for June 2027. Spots are available for both.