The promise of traveling to another country upon completing a 4^th, 5^th, or 6^th year of a foreign language at Dominion is a key component of what incentivizes students to continue in a language class past the three years required for an Advanced Diploma. Trips to Spain, France, and Italy happen in rotating years such that each student has an opportunity as either a junior or a senior to travel abroad and immerse themselves in their chosen language. However, this year, in the wake of an ISIS attack on Paris, France, the scheduled trips to Spain and Italy have been cancelled.

Thirteen or fourteen DHS students had signed up for the trip to Spain, each of whom had paid $400 in a deposit due in October. “Since it was not the travel company’s decision, it is unlikely [students will get refunded]”, said Christi Davis, a Spanish teacher at Dominion and co-sponsor of the trip to Spain. The students were notified of the trip’s cancellation in an email sent by Kim Fogelson, who noted that the deposit “is not refundable”.

The decision to cancel the trip was made by Dr. Brewer in coordination with trip sponsors Davis, Fogelson, and Caitlin Campbell. “We were concerned that if world events get worse, students would lose even more money,” says Dr. Brewer, who did not make the decision at the behest of Loudoun County or the travel company, TSATours, used for the trip. “Travel to Europe is in jeopardy of being safe, and if we determine it unsafe to travel there in the next three months, we don’t want to cause even more financial loss,” Brewer said.

In addition, the recently-issued State Department advisory on world travel influenced the decision to cancel. “Dr. Brewer doesn’t want Titans travelling right now,” Davis said.

Other than the two foreign language trips, Dominion currently has scheduled a trip to South Africa. “We are trying to get approval for the trip to South Africa in January or February,” Brewer said, “and because the trip hasn’t technically approved yet, we can’t cancel it.”

Because the trip to South Africa will not be organized by a travel company, will involve only a few students, and is not located centrally to Europe or the Middle East, students looking to travel there may have an opportunity to do so.

Though the decision to cancel was made in students’ best interest, the opportunities that Titans will lose due to the trips’ cancellation are far from nominal. “Trips abroad are what make many kids realize they can actually use the language,” Davis said, “and studying abroad while I was in college was what solidified my decision to become a Spanish teacher. It makes me sad that some students will not get that experience.”

It is unlikely that the trip will be rescheduled for next year such that members of the current junior class will have an opportunity to have an immersion experience through Dominion before they graduate. “Dr. Brewer said it would be a couple years [before we can go again] based on the state of the world,” Davis said.

In notifying students of the trip’s cancellation, Fogelson expressed similar sentiment. “We’re disappointed that our students will not be able to travel at this time but the safety concerns are too great,” Fogelson said.