Submitted Photo Students of Minot High School Central Campus returned June 20 from a study abroad trip where they explored Italy and Greece. Pictured in the red shirt, center, is Michael Stein along with the students and other adults in front of the Pantheon in Rome. Stein was in charge of the trip.

Students of Minot High School Central Campus leaped out of their textbooks and experienced Europe firsthand where they learned about culture and history.

The Art Studies Abroad trip is a course offered at MHS worth half of an art credit. Students are required to do their own fundraising for the trip. This year’s 11-day trip cost around $6,000 per student which included all expenses except for lunch and spending money.

The program was started in the 1990s by Jeanne Brekke and Melody Kuehn, and was later taken over by Joan Hanson and Michael Stein. When Hanson retired Heidi Roberts helped with the program alongside Stein before it was put on pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The trip was canceled in 2020 and 2021. Stein was waiting for approval from the school to restart the program in 2022 and 2023. In addition to this trip being the first since 2019, it was also the first trip Stein handled without the assistance from other teachers.

One and a half years in advance Stein sends an email to all teachers requesting a list of students who show great character and responsibility. Students whose names are submitted three times or more are sent an invitation to join the trip. Stein said the students don’t require a 4.0 grade point average or be art students. They just have to be mature and responsible enough to take overseas.

The trips last from 10 to 17 days, with this year being the shortest trip the program has offered. Because this is the first year the trip has happened since 2020, Stein said he wanted to start small and slowly rebuild the program to where it was pre-pandemic.

This year the students went to Italy and Greece, focusing on Florence, Rome, Athens and Delphi.

To prepare the students for the trip they are assigned worksheets to familiarize themselves with the culture, art and architecture before they go abroad.

Favorite activities students experienced while on the trip included swimming in the Mediterranean and a Greek evening which involved traditional Greek food, music and dancing.

Not only does the trip facilitate students’ learning, Stein said students also grow as people. “I always get parents that tell me or run into me a year or two later saying, ‘What did you do to my kid? They’re a completely different person – they’ve grown up, they’ve matured, they’re responsible.’ I think it helps the students become a more well-rounded person and closer to that adulthood.”

This year’s turnout was larger than ever with some students even on a waiting list. Typically Stein takes around 20 students along – this year he took 34.

“My ultimate goal for the students is just for them to be able to experience learning abroad. To get out of the textbook and see everything – to be there, feel it – get all of the senses to just experience it. I do think it helps them grow as a person, and that’s why I do it,” Stein said.