Gilroy – Just talking about world history wasn’t enough. Clint Wheeler flew 5,371 miles with six of his Gilroy High School students to embark on a whirlwind tour of Europe last month.
Touching down in three countries – the group ambled down the skinny side streets of Rome exploring the ancient ruins of the Coliseum, climbed the Eiffel Tower in Paris, and awed at the beauty of St. Paul Cathedral in London.
“It was the trip of a lifetime,” Wheeler said smiling. “You name it, we saw it.”
Until June 20, he had never traveled east of the Mississippi or outside of the United States and Mexico.
“This was a big trip for me,” the 34–year–old GHS baseball coach and history teacher explained.
Last May, a group of his students discovered a brochure an educational travel company had sent Wheeler. They were determined to go.
Wheeler offered to take them and set up a 10-day tour for students that included GHS seniors; Alysha and Amber Bogie, Stephanie Orth, and Santiago Maciel; juniors, Elizabeth Rothenberg and Robin Beckman; and chaperone, Santiago Maciel.
They left June 20 and a week after they returned, a terrorist attack on London’s transit system brought the reality home to Gilroy.
“That station … was our stop. And that bus was a block down from our hotel,” Wheeler said.
They began their trip in London and experienced almost everything the city has to offer: Piccadilly Circus, Big Ben, St. Paul’s Cathedral, the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace.
They also took in the “Phantom of the Opera” at the Queen’s Theater.
A train ride under the English Channel later, and the group was in Paris – and seemingly a world away.
Climbing the Eiffel Tower, seeing the inner structural workings of the monument, made a permanent impression on junior Robin Beckman.
“I’ve wanted to go to Paris and stand under the Eiffel Tower since I was a little girl,” she said. “It took my breath away.”
In the beginning, the group was shell-shocked by the differences and the sleep deprivation, Wheeler said.
“It’s totally different from America,” he told his students, “Don’t sit here and judge it.”
Wheeler engaged in political discussions with the group’s Italian tour guide Fabri Ruffo, and found that many of the issues facing Americans are similar to those of Europeans.
“It was kind of interesting to hear from their perspective,” he said.
Students chatted with other travelers in London and exchanged slang phrases and noticed the differences in the language they share.
“It’s English, but it’s two different languages,” senior Stephanie Orth explained.
The final stop on the tour was Italy.
“My favorite part was Florence,” Orth said. “It’s just what you (imagine) when you think of Italy.”
Visiting Rome left both Wheeler and Beckman floored.
Walking through ancient ruins and feeling the solidness of the structures, and all the history that has occurred between their walls, has left Wheeler still processing the experience.
Not one to take photographs, Wheeler debated whether to upgrade the memory card in his digital camera.
Luckily he did.
The leather bound photo album he purchased in Italy will carry the more than 200 photos.
“You’re standing where some of the most innovative people stood,” Beckman said. “And (those structures) were there before our country was even conceived.”
Students have already started asking about a trip next year.
Destination aside, Wheeler has been bitten by the traveling bug.
“I’d like to see it all …” he said.
Standing beside the Fontana di Trevi in Rome, Ruffo told Wheeler the legend of the fountain, explaining that by tossing in a coin, one is assured a return to the city.
“I threw one in immediately,” he said smiling. “Just in case.”
Kristen Munson covers education for the Dispatch. Reach her at 847–7097 and at km*****@************ch.com
