Brighton Board Says 'Oui' to High Schoolers' Trip to France

Brighton High School students who have taken at least two years of French will have the opportunity to converse with native speakers and see firsthand, as the French saying goes, “il vaut mieux faire que dire”—or doing is better than saying.

On Monday, the Brighton Area Schools Board of Education approved a proposed trip to France in the summer of 2012.

The group—around 40 students and four or five chaperones—will spend three days in and around Paris, exploring the city and its surrounding hamlets, including Giverny (Monet's home and famous gardens) and Versailles.

Students will then head south with stops in the Loire Valley, Carcassonne, Camargue for horseback riding and Nice on the Riviera before eventually ending in Eze—a small village perched high on cliffs near Mount Bastide, overlooking the Mediterranean Sea.

Superintendent of Instruction Laura Surrey said her daughter, Natalie, now a senior at Brighton High School, took a similar trip to France. She said students benefit from the experience in a variety of ways.

"It goes way beyond seeing pretty places. It even goes beyond tying it to our curriculum," Surrey said. "They really grow."

The trip will cost $4,301 per student, which includes airfare, accommodations at three- and four-star hotels, meals, tours and transportation. The high school plans to hold many fundraising events during the year that will help students pay for the trip.

This will be the fifth trip to France for Brighton High School. ACIS, an educational tour company, is organizing the trip, which will be led by teachers Leslie Carleton from Brighton High School and Matt Dufon from Scranton Middle School.

“We have total confidence in this company,” Carleton said.