Lewis-Palmer High School students took a trip to Iceland over this past summer. There was a group of 22 students with three science teachers from Lewis-Palmer, including Mrs. Thompson, Mrs. Baxter and Dr. Baxter.

The group left on June 23rd and returned on June 29th. They visited multiple cities and tourist attractions in Iceland. Mrs. Thompson, a science teacher from Lewis-Palmer, had the opportunity to go on the trip. 

“It was a bucket list place to go,” Thompson said. “We wanted to learn about the science of the island and the geology, and all the geothermal stuff. So really it was a science field trip,” Thompson said. 

Makayla Lundgren 12 has attended a different school-led trip in the past, and got to experience the Iceland trip as well. “I went on the Belize trip and I had a lot of fun when I went to Belize, so I wanted just to experience Iceland and continue to travel the world,” Lundgren said.

The group got to participate in many activities and explore different areas of Iceland during the trip. “We went glacier hiking, we went to the Blue Lagoon, whale-watched and we went to a chocolate factory,” Lundgren said.

Jake Hatton 11 went to Iceland with the group, and he experienced many memorable events on the trip. “My favorite part was walking around Reykjavik because it was just a really cool city,” Hatton said.

The experience in Iceland was not only an adventure, but also a learning opportunity for the teachers and students. “It showed me how other countries are preserving their natural resources compared to how we are, and Iceland is just a much cleaner country, with pollution, than the United States is,” Lundgren said.

“My favorite activity was the glacier hike just because it’s just so dramatic to actually be walking on a glacier. I got to wear these things called crampons and you just go straight up the glacier, up ice, and you don’t fall,” Thompson said.

“It makes you feel like you’re on your own now,” Hatton said. “It gets you used to the real world and not always having your parents around.”

Next summer, the planned school-sponsored trip is to New Zealand, Australia, and Hawaii. “I am looking forward to seeing all the endemic species, all the stuff that lives in Australia and New Zealand that we would not see here,” Thompson said.