Foreign Language Club (FLC) has several field trips planned throughout the month of April. Their cultural food fair, tea at Baker Mansion, a joint field trip with Astronomy Club to Pittsburgh and a possible culture day at Juniata College are all in the works. 

FLC, advised by French teacher Veronica Skomra, has a mission to create a space for everyone interested in languages and cultures regardless of their current enrollment in a language class. 

“We truly believe that the desire to explore the world through language isn’t limited to those who are actively studying it in the classroom,” Skomra said. 

The first planned field trip for the club is Culture Day at Juniata College. This will take place April 8. 

“Culture Day includes several presentations from Juniata College students who are a part of the Language In Motion program.  These students have had the opportunity to travel abroad or live abroad and create activities and a presentation related to their experiences or knowledge learned from abroad,” Skomra said. 

This field trip has not yet been approved by the administration. 

On April 10, students have the opportunity to attend for tea at historic Baker Mansion. 

“Students will experience tea from the early years of tea becoming popular in history, and they’ll learn historical facts along the way about how the tea parties were introduced to society and became a rich historical landmine of information,” Skomra said. 

This field trip has been done in previous years. 

On April 16, club members will take part in a joint field trip with the Astronomy Club to Pittsburgh. They will visit a museum regarding American history and Phipps Conservatory. 

“A trip to Phipps Conservatory offers the foreign language club a unique educational opportunity to connect cultural studies with real-world applications,” Skomra said. “Beyond the aesthetic beauty of the diverse botanical collections, Phipps provides a living laboratory for exploring the interconnectedness of language, culture and the natural world. Students can enhance their linguistic skills by researching and presenting on the origins of plant names, many of which derive from various languages.” 

The conservatory offers educational opportunities that focus on sustainability and environmental issues. 

The Cultural Food Fair’s date is still being determined. It consists of students making food that stem from other cultures’ cuisines, and sharing them with each other. 

Senior Hannah Jack joined FLC as a freshman and was taking French at the time. She has participated in the Cultural Food Fair in the past. 

“We hold a Cultural Food Fair for the teachers,” Jack said. “We can take the [newly learned cultural experiences] that we find on those trips and apply ourselves, or do something that we might be personally connected to culturally wise.” 

Jack has previously attended field trips to Aki Japanese Steakhouse and the Roberto Clemente Museum with the Foreign Language Club. 

Senior Triumph Kilmartin has been in the club for two years. 

“I take French, and I wanted to learn more about the other languages and experience different cultures,” Kilmartin said. “I went to the Mifflinburg field trip and it was very educational.” 

Students visited the Christkindl Market and learned about German culture during the Mifflinburg field trip in December this year. 

Senior Sophia Feigh has been in the club for three years. 

Feigh and Kilmartin cannot attend the upcoming field trips due to conflicting schedules. However, they will be there in spirit. 

“I’m excited for the people that can go because they’re [field trips] further away and in more popular cities that have more authentic cultures,” Feigh said. 

The upcoming field trips will conclude the rest of the school year. 

“Future plans for the club are to continue to create memorable and cultural experiences for students that they will remember after they leave the high school,” Skomra said.