Bloom Hamner

Return to Galapagos Among Student Trips



Christ School students traveled to The Galapagos Islands last spring.



Return to Galapagos Among Student Trips

Service sprinkled into cultural experience for Greenies

Grant Haldeman '21 has seen the pictures and read descriptions of exotic animals from The Galapagos Islands. Creatures like giant tortoises will soon be staring back at him.

Christ School is returning to the Galapagos for the second consecutive year in February, just one of the many student trips planned for 2018.

"We have all this wildlife in North Carolina, but it's nothing like it is over there," Grant said. "I like that Christ School gives you opportunities to do trips like this. I've only been out of the country one time before this, to Italy. I'm really looking forward to it."

Student trips at Christ School have a dual purpose. The Greenies get to absorb the destination's culture, and unlike most tourists, the boys perform community service as well. A tour of Ecuador's capital city of Quito is included in the Galapagos trip. Other trips being offered are Cuba, Japan, Nicaragua, a Remembering World War I trip to France and Belgium, as well as a European Rail Adventure by train through Paris, Lucerne and Rome. Closer to home, a winter break getaway to Charleston, S.C., is in the works.

Each student pays his own way for the trips, but scholarship opportunities are available. All trips are chapheroned by Christ School faculty.

Engineering/Computer Science instructor Marcel Duhaime and his wife, Learning Resources instructor Beth Duhaime, will supervise the 12 boys who have signed up for the Galapagos. Based off last year's trip, the Greenies already have a good idea of what kind of service they will be doing. It will involve roforestation to help ward off invasive species, and volunteer work at a research center that houses turtles.

"The rest of the days, we'll have fun and explore the islands," Marcel Duhaime said. "I'm psyched for it. This is something that's been on my bucket list."

More information regarding Christ School student trips can be found at this link.


Christ School students traveled to Cuba last spring.