It’s been just over a week since Jesse Lloyd got back from Europe through a new initiative he started to fill the gap for student travel.
Travelling is a part of Lloyd’s life after going to countless countries like Australia, Italy and Thailand. In 2018, Lloyd went on a school-sanctioned trip to Japan and saw it as a positive experience for students so he wanted to do it himself.
He started Guelph Youth Travel to give students the chance to travel outside of a school setting. As a teacher at Guelph CVI, equity is important to him and he thinks opportunities for travel should be available to students.
“The school board has opted not to do these trips, and I accept that,” said Lloyd. He created the initiative outside of the Upper Grand District School Board (UGDSB). It’s open to youth ages 14 to 18 and students can be from the UGDSB, Wellington Catholic District School Board (WCDSB) or any other school board.
“This is a community trip that's open to all high school students,” said Lloyd.
The first trip was during March break where 14 students went to Portugal and Spain. Next March the group is headed to Greece.
Guelph Youth Travel uses EF Tours to help with the logistics of the trips. It is a travel company that organizes travel with an emphasis on education throughout the experience.
One thing the students took away from the Europe trip was bonding with their peers. “When you're with each other for such a long period of time in such close quarters, you get to know each other,” said Lloyd.
High school-aged youth are able to take in the experience and remember it. “It's kind of like having a sense of independence without your parent doing everything there for you, but you've still got the safety net,” he said. It’s a measured degree of freedom and gives them a window into what travelling is like.
Lloyd hopes it peaks their interest in travelling and they take the skills they’ve learned about travel with them as they get older.
Taking students out of a classroom setting and to places where they get hands-on experience is valuable to Lloyd and the students. There is no mandatory school work with the trips because it isn’t associated with a course but learning comes easy when you’re touring a new city.
International trips are possible in some circumstances, said Heather Loney, UGDSB communications manager, via email. Trips have to be reviewed by the school’s superintendent and by the board’s associate director. The associate director would also have to approve it.
As for WCDSB, international travel is permitted for students through its partnership with EF Tours. There are a few upcoming Europe trips planned through WCDSB high schools, said Michael Glazier, WCDSB director of education, via email.