Students eager for spring break abroad

WASILLA — Leaving Alaska on March 10, 20 students and staff from multiple schools in the Mat-Su Valley will be spending their spring break traveling in Spain. After arriving in Madrid, the group will visit two cities and multiple locations before flying out of Barcelona on March 17 and back home.

“This trip is definitely something I am looking forward to,” Wasilla High School Spanish teacher Timothy Hall said.

Hall, a seasoned traveler, visited Spain three times last year alone.

“I love being able to spend my spring break traveling out of the country,” he said.

Spain-bound students come from three high schools in the district: Career Tech, Palmer, and Wasilla. The 16 students from WHS make up the majority of the group. Adults among the group include WHS staff members Hall, Emily Forstner, Carol Boatman; as well as parent Rio Villa.

One WHS Spain-bound student is senior Spanish IV student Edward Litvinchuk.

“After taking four years of Spanish, I’ve finally decided to go on the yearly Spanish trip,” Litvinchuk said. “I want to be able to put all of the Spanish I learned into real-life scenarios.”

With a price tag of $4,200, the trip is a large chunk of change. However, being proactive helped Litvinchuk bring the cost down significantly.

“Initially, it was $4,200, but I signed up early for a $400 discount. Then I got a $600 scholarship, which brought down the total cost to $3,200.”

Litvinchuk said being motivated and taking action early can greatly reduce the overall cost of the weeklong trip, making travel much more accessible to students.

After traveling over 5,100 miles, the group will arrive in Madrid on March 11. They will spend three days in Madrid before taking a day trip to the city of Toledo. Toledo is famous for its beautiful buildings, extensive cultural heritage, and steel production. The group will visit these historic buildings, including the world-famous Toledo sword factories. Toledo's famous steel —beginning production as early as 500 B.C. — was used to produce extremely high quality swords used by the Roman armies.

Hall said the students and staff plan on spending the rest of the trip in Barcelona.

“We are planning on taking a high-speed train to Barcelona,” he said.

Spain's AVE train system operates at speeds up to 200 MPH, making for quick and convenient travel between cities.

Flying out of Barcelona on March 17 will mark the end of the trip, and the beginning of over 20 hours of airtime home to Alaska.

Wasilla High is sponsoring two other student trips over Spring Break. World history teacher Svetlana Gabbard plans a tour of Czech Republic, and music teacher Sarah Guhl travels to the Bahamas with her music students.

Litvinchuk is counting down the days until his March 10 trip to Spain excitedly.

“It's my senior year and my last chance to participate in a trip like this,” he said.

Stephan Gergilevich is a senior at Wasilla High School.