Jeff Schultz had always wanted to do some international travel. But between college football, marriage and children, he never had the opportunity. At least not until now.

On Thursday, March 21, Shultz — along with his wife, Autumn, parents, Ev and Jim, five chaperones, plus four other adults and 18 Superior High School students — headed to Rome for a week.

“The kids are super excited. This is a great opportunity for them. We’ve been learning about the area all year and now they can actually see it,” Schultz said.

He teaches World History to Superior High School students and they’ve studied the history, geography, politics and archeology of Rome, the Sorrento Region, Capri Island and Pompeii, all year. On the trip they will see all the sites, including the Colosseum, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Vatican City, and Palatine Hill. They will spend five days in Rome and two days in the other areas.

Rome is the capital of Italy with nearly 3 million residents. At first, Schultz was nervous about taking a group of students abroad but last fall he traveled to the area through EF Educational Tours. On that trip he “got the lay of the land” and felt comfortable taking the group. “It was mind-blowing,” he said.

Through the company they have a tour guide, all of their accommodations are arranged and they receive a “speed pass” at some of the sites which can have up to a six-hour wait line.

“Italy is a super safe destination. It rates higher than the U.S. in safety,” he said.

THE COST per traveler is $3,505 for students and $4,105 for the adults. Most of the students participated in fundraising activities all year. Including raffles, a booth at the county fair, 50/50 tickets, a car wash, and other activities. Parents also had the option to just pay for their student’s way.

Schultz said Superior School administrators have been great about his teaching the class and allowing the trip. He plans on doing this every two years and next year he will open it up to the freshman, as well. His next trip will center on World War II. The class will travel to England, Germany, France and Austria.

Once this year’s students return they will be putting together a video and photo presentation for the community. The presentation will be six to eight minutes on anything the students chose to report on, whether it’s food, fashion, history or some other topic.

“I was shocked at the number of kids who participated this year,” he said. “A lot of them have never been on a plane or really traveled outside of Mineral County.”

The students who went this year were Jacob Lapinski, Hewston Coon, Isaiah Kovalski, Wesley Buchannan, Margaret and Kathryn Parkin, Madison Mask, Kayli Schoolcraft, Madison Courser, Kylie Plakke, Danner and Hunter Haskins, Kade Parkin, Bailey Milender, Howard Edison, Hannah Calloway, AJ Azure and Myles Constant.