Charles City students cross the globe for a week in Greece

By Travis Fischer, tkfischer@charlescitypress.com

A group of Charles City students are back from a very unique kind of historical field trip.

Twenty-two juniors and seniors spent a week touring Greece, visiting famous landmarks and learning about the local culture and customs.

Though not directly affiliated with the school, the spring break excursion is a bi-annual event organized by Charles City teacher Robert Pittman and his wife, Phoebe. Every two years the Pittmans invite juniors and seniors to join them on a globetrotting trip, offering an opportunity for the near-adults to experience some supervised global travel.

“The growth that kids do when they travel to different cultures is phenomenal,” said Robert Pittman. “For them to get some experience in a guided environment I think is super beneficial to them.”

The Pittmans have been organizing these trips for 12 years now, taking students to faraway locations like China or South America. This year’s itinerary took them to Greece, where they spent a week traveling the country and surrounding islands.

“It was a once-in-a-lifetime trip for most of the people that went,” said Sydney Otto, one of the students on the trip.

“I wasn’t going to turn the opportunity down,” said Claire Eckenrod. “It was nice to go with people who knew what to expect.”

Arriving in Athens, the group spent a week touring the country, visiting museums and historical locations like the Olympic Stadium, the Parthenon and the Temple of Athena. A portion of their trip even involved a cruise around the islands of the Saronic Gulf, allowing them to visit the Temple of Poseidon and take a swim in the Mediterranean waters.

“It’s pretty, everywhere you look,” said Maggie Boss.

The trip to Greece served as a learning experience, allowing the kids a first-hand look at the place where Western Democracy was formed. Growing up in a relatively young nation like the United States, it was a rare opportunity to see places and structures that have stood for thousands of years, they said.

“The people over there are really proud to tell their story and their history,” said Teagan Prigge.

While major points of Greek history are commonly known in the Western world, visiting the sites where it happened, from the site of the first Olympic Games to the ancient theater of Epidaurus, brings that history to life in a way that can’t be replicated by a textbook.

“It was really easy to envision what life was like,” said Sydney Otto. “It made me want to learn more about it.”

Outside of the obvious historical education opportunities, the trip exposed the students to more mundane differences when navigating foreign cultures. From riding the metro to dodging cars driving through the narrow streets, basic travel is very different than in rural Iowa, they said.

Being in such an unfamiliar environment gave the students the push they needed to explore themselves as well. Students that were normally shy and reserved found themselves participating in local festivities, learning traditional dances in front of crowds, Pittman said.

In the spirit of expanding their horizons, one of the activities the group came up with was the grocery store challenge, where they were tasked with browsing local markets in search of bizarre food items they’d never tried before.

“A lot of them were really gross,” said Breyer Ellison. “I had the winner, which was canned squid.”

Which is not to say that they didn’t find new favorites in the Mediterranean cuisine. From Spankopita to Tzatziki, the kids found a variety of traditional Greek dishes they enjoyed and even attended cooking classes as part of their tour, teaching the students how to make them on their own back home.

“I was expecting not to like any of the food there, but I loved pretty much all of it,” said Chris Tull. “I’m definitely going to try to make cheese pies again.”

After a week of touring, exploring, and enjoying “the vibe” of the country, the group returned home on Sunday, March 19. Pittman says that he’s already looking forward to taking a new group on another adventure, looking at a Scandinavian cruise or a trip to the Belize Rainforest as potential options for 2025.

“Our kids are great to travel with,” said Pittman. “They’re just great kids to be able to take to a different country and have them experience the world.”