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Although they don’t leave for more than 16 months, students at Rhinelander High School are hard at work raising money for their 2015 trip to London, the Loire Valley and Paris.

“We currently have 20 students who have signed up for the trip,” RHS social studies teacher Linda Goldsworthy said. “We are hoping for more interested students to join us, as fund-raising is well underway.”

According to Goldsworthy, students eligible for the trip include students who have or will take one of the following courses: Accelerated English 9, Advanced Placement European History or Advanced Placement United States History. 

“We also require that a student have the verbal recommendation of the instructors for those classes, as we need to feel comfortable in taking a student overseas for nine days,” Goldsworthy said.

The trip starts with a two-day stint in London during which students will visit Parliament, Buckingham Palace and St. Paul’s Cathedral. En route to Caen, they will stop at Stonehenge and the Salisbury Cathedral before boarding a ferry to France.

Their first morning in France will focus on the history of Normandy and World War II’s Operation Overlord. They will visit the American Cemetery and Museum in Colleville-sur-Mer and the shell-scarred cliffs of Pointe du Hoc before heading to the Loire Valley for dinner.

Other highlights of the French leg of the trip will include a visit to Chartres Cathedral and Chenonceau before arriving in Paris, where local guides will introduce students to the Arc de Triomphe and Notre Dame Cathedral before enjoying an afternoon at the Louvre Museum and a morning at Louis XIV’s palace at Versailles.

Plans for a dinner at the Eiffel Tower and an evening boat ride on the Seine may be included, but Goldsworthy hopes fund-raising efforts will offset this $113 extra.

Fund-raising has been going well for the group who recently sold donated cranberries at the Hodag Farmer’s Market and desserts at the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra concert during October.

“We just finished selling Seroogy’s chocolates and coffees on Wednesday,” Goldsworthy said. “In addition we are having a 45-day fundraiser with Schwan’s.”

The current Schwan’s fund-raiser differs from the past method used by the group. 

“Previously, students collected orders and the orders were delivered on a certain day. During that delivery, we also held a truckload sale which enabled people to buy directly off the truck,” Goldsworthy said. “If we sold $3,000 worth of product, we earned 20 percent of sales.  As the amount of product decreased, so did our profits.”

This fall’s Schwan’s sale differs in that it is ordered online, delivered to the customer’s home and earns between 20 and 40 percent for the students.
“The www.schwanscares.com program allows even current Schwan’s buyers to assist an RHS student going on the trip.  If you order a $25 e-certificate, 40 percent goes toward the fundraiser. Regular sales between now and December 11 will earn our students 20 percent,” Goldsworthy said. “It’s a much more streamlined process and allows friends and family from around the country to participate without delivery worries.”

The Europe 2015 trip code for www.schwanscares.com is 3111.