This past mid-winter break, 30 students from both the Latin and Italian Art & Culture classes traveled almost 5,000 miles to Italy. Many of the students who went had been anxiously anticipating their trip for months.

“Ever since I was a young child, I have had an affinity for all things of the Greco-Roman world,” said sophomore Katie Taub who took Italian Art & Culture as well as Latin first semester, “And I have always kind of dreamt of going to Italy. So it was the perfect opportunity for me,” who took Italian Art & Culture as well as Latin first semester.

The Community students flew into Rome, and travelled south to Sorrento, then to Florence, and ending the trip in Venice. “It was all great, but Venice was my favorite; it was really nice,” said junior Galen Burrel.

Students enjoyed Venice, but there were other aspects of the trip that some students found more appealing. CHS sophomore Graehm Fazio had been to Italy before, but still took the opportunity to go again, “I wanted to go to Italy again and experience new places,” said Fazio. “Sorrento was my favorite because we had a lot of free time and really got to experience Italy as more of a local than as a tourist,” Fazio said.

For junior Jason Talley traveling to Italy was his first time out of the country. “I’d never been out of the country before and I thought it would be a really awesome opportunity that I didn’t want to miss,” said Talley.

While in Sorrento, which is in southern Italy, the group traveled to the ancient city of Pompeii. “Pompeii is such an old city and it’s still alive,” said junior Jonas Gerhart-Hall. Other  students shared Gerhart-Hall’s sentiment. “It was such a beautiful day when we went to Pompeii,” said junior Rachel Kelley. “The city was so much bigger than I imagined it. That was a really great day,” she said.

Steve Coron, who had also been to Italy before on previous CHS trips, taught Italian Art & Culture class first semester to help prepare students for what they would experience. “My reason for going on the trip is to expose our students to all the wonderful things they studied in classes so they could see firsthand the beauty and the wonder of Italian art and culture. I can see the enjoyment in their eyes; I know what they are feeling and for me that is really wonderful,” Coron said.