Holland (grades 6-10)
Dates: Friday. July 26 - August 2, 2008
Fee: $3,100 (includes meals, bike, lodging, museum fees, and airfare from a Washington, DC area airport).
Deposit: $500 due upon registration
Additional Deposit: $500 due April 15
A six-day cycling adventure for rising Grade 6-10 students with average to good biking skills and a love of history, art and travel.
(Note: Some daily bike trips are as long as 35 miles. Participants are required to bring their own safety helmet.)
Join Sidwell faculty and some of the staff of Sidwell Summer’s Camp Corsica for a marvelous holiday in one of the most beautiful, friendly, and safe countries in the world. Holland has a fascinating history and there is no better opportunity to learn about it than to travel with leaders who have had years of teaching and travel experience with students of all ages and backgrounds. We will travel by day on the safe bike paths that cover our scheduled routes.
At night we will stay two or four to a cabin on our canal barge, where our professional staff will prepare hearty European-style meals (students will assist in table settings and clean up). Although the schedule is subject to some modification, our trip will include visits to numerous fortified cities, historical sites (from the Medieval period through World War II), as well as some magnificently restored castles and windmills. At the conclusion of the trip, students will take a tour of Amsterdam that may include a visit to Anne Frank’s home, several world famous science museums and the amazing Van Gogh museum.
Participants will be briefed each morning on the sites they will see and how to get the most out of each day’s excursion (see website for details on routes). Evenings will end with thoughtful discussions from the ideas of Erasmus to our adventures on some of the world’s greatest bike trails. Of course, there will be time to wander the villages and towns, shop, and socialize.
Sign up early for one of the greatest experiences of your life. We are planning on a group of about 16 boys and girls on a first come, first serve basis. Participants will be supervised by our professional staff in a manner that will ensure that every member of our group behaves responsibly, acts inclusively, and grows intellectually from our European experience. Our goals are to have lots of fun, to return with great memories, and to make many new friends.
Trip Leader Pete Peterson looks forward to sharing this adventure with students for a third time. Pete is a Middle School history teacher at Sidwell Friends School and is the founder and director of Sidwell Summer’s Camp Corsica which will be running for its 13th season this summer. Pam Hepp first joined the faculty of Sidwell Friends School in 1985 as a Middle School teacher. After taking a few years off and living in London from 1990-1993, she is now back at Sidwell teaching Chemistry in the Upper School. Pam is an avid biker and has bicycled the "Seagull Century", on the Eastern Shore of Maryland 4 times. She looks forward to helping leading this trip for her second summer. Corsica staff members Victor and Philip Sowers will set the daily bike routes and lead the biking portion of the trip. Fluent in Dutch, they will also act as the group’s translators for the week. Victor and Philip join the trip for their second summer. Victor is a 2005 Sidwell alum.
