This year, passports will remain tucked away and travel dreams will be postponed with the absence of two important exchange trips: the French language trip to France and the Spanish language trip to Mexico.
The high school has failed to renew the French trip to Angers, France and the Spanish trip to Oaxaca, Mexico. The French Exchange, which has been running every other year for nearly 15 years, was canceled due to the French partner school’s withdrawal from the program. The Spanish trip, which has been on and off for more than a decade, was cancelled due to a lack of interest among students. Teachers and administrators cited other difficulties that come with planning a trip abroad, including funding logistics and housing.
Andrew Kimball, a French and Spanish teacher at the high school, said the experience of Brookline students visiting Angers used to mirror the experience of French students coming to Brookline.
“In October we welcome about 27 French students and they visit some classes, but generally they’re doing field trips within the Boston area,” Kimball said. “The second half is our trip to France, where we visit their home city of Angers. Similarly, we shadow them around some classes. We’re doing local field trips in their community.”
According to Kimball, the trip was never approved or even given the opportunity for approval this year.
“We acknowledge that the exchange is the most fulfilling and enriching type of school travel format. Unfortunately, it’s also the most complicated,” Kimball said. “The main issue is that our partner school had to pump the brakes. They had some funding fall through with a new superintendent on their end.”
Avery Sutton-Rath, a senior in AP French, was interested in the trip.
“To do an exchange program like that, have someone stay at my house, and have the experience of traveling abroad with my peers and classmates, I thought that that would be a really cool experience, so I was disappointed to find out that I wouldn’t be able to do that,” Sutton-Rath said.
Sutton-Rath said that in the future she hopes that the language department will communicate changes regarding the trip in a clearer way. She herself only found out that the trip was cancelled as a result of her peers.
“I do think that clarity would have been nice, at least having a discussion about what was going on. Because I was definitely under the impression that it was happening this year,” Sutton-Rath said.
World Languages Curriculum Coordinator Rachel Eio said that most of the difficulties lie within the planning process and gathering enough money and people.
“One [issue] is the availability of staff to be able to organize and plan a student trip. I don’t know if people are aware of this, but this is unpaid work. This is work that’s outside of what teachers are obligated to do,” Eio said. “Also, we want to make the trips accessible and equitable to all students, no matter what their financial situation is. That means that the teachers and the students are responsible to fundraise for all of the financial aid needs.”
Spanish teacher Kevin Whitehead, who was one of the chaperones for the canceled trip, said that unlike the French exchange, the Spanish trip to Oaxaca did get approved, but was never actualized due to a lack of student interest.
“We needed 25 [students] for the trip and we had 17 sign up,” Whitehead said. “We’ve never had less than 60 applicants for 25 spots. So we were all very surprised by the lack of interest.”
If it were happening, the two week Oaxaca trip would have happened over and beyond February vacation.
“We were going to spend two days in Mexico City at the very beginning and then the bulk of it was going to be in Oaxaca, in the southern part of the country,” Whitehead said. “A normal day would look like language class from 9 in the morning to noon, and then cultural activities or visits around the city and the area in the afternoon.”
Eio said language trips are extremely enriching and an amazing opportunity for cultural immersion. However, she said that students have to take into consideration how much preparation they require and how the previous success of these trips happening should not be taken for granted.
“The interpersonal sort of experience and getting to know somebody from somewhere else in the world and to use your language [is beneficial],” Eio said. “Just because the program takes a year off doesn’t mean that it doesn’t eventually come back.”
