VMS students head to England
Published 2:29 pm Friday, June 14, 2019
- Katelyn Umholtz | The Valdosta Daily TimesValdosta Middle School students board the bus to catch a plane for their England trip Thursday morning.
VALDOSTA — Some Valdosta Middle School students are spending their summer vacation across the pond.
The Academic Service Learning Exchange is bringing 17 Valdosta Middle School students and their chaperones to England for 10 days starting Thursday.
The students will be staying with familiar faces during the course of their trip — the English middle school students who came to Valdosta back in January will host their VMS friends this time around.
“It’s really about the experience of going with the school and meeting new people from over there and hanging out with my friends,” said Charlie Wilson, an incoming VMS eighth grader who will stay with his friend Sebastian who stayed with him a few months back.
The group is bringing their English friends a little gift too.
Read with Malcolm is going international with VMS students as the Reading Ambassadors who will provide copies of The Magician’s Hat to students in Colchester, England.
“Share the Magic Foundation and Read with Malcolm literacy programs are excited to support our first group of international RWM Reading Ambassadors from Valdosta City Schools making a trip to the UK to “share the magic of reading” with students in Colchester, England,” said Malcolm Mitchell. “We applaud their hard work and dedication to service learning.”
Most of the trip will be spent with host families in Colchester, but they will also get to spend a day in London, said VMS teacher Carole Newbern.
“It’s important to teach them about other cultures and to let them see how things are done in other countries and have a chance to visit other schools,” Newbern said. “You can’t beat the real experience of going somewhere.”
Wilson said he is most excited to see St. Paul’s Cathedral and other historical monuments in England.
“Shakespeare is buried there,” Wilson said. “I’m a little nervous about the plane, but I’m pretty excited for touring around and getting to experience England.”
Katelyn Umholtz is a reporter with the Valdosta Daily Times. She can be contacted at (229)244-3400 ext. 1256.
