Teachers lead students trips to Spain and Europe in 2026

this is a map of the places falcons will be visiting. (courtesy of EF Tours )

Teachers Tanya Cox and Leslie Wilson will take up to 15-20 students to Spain for 11 days in the summer of 2026 touring six different cities, including Barcelona, Madrid, Cordoba, Seville, Granada, and Málaga.      

“Our first night will be in Barcelona, we will be in Barcelona for two days. Then we will go down to Balenciaga, which is very popular for one of Spain’s famous dishes which is La Paella. Which is just rice and different types of seafood. So I am excited to try that as well, because they say no other place makes it as good as in Balenciaga. Then we will be going down to Granada and then at this point we will be right down to the coast of Costa Del Sol,” Cox said.

Cox also added an additional place to the tour, which she is looking forward to.

“I added an excursion to the Gibraltar Stretch. It’s literally where we can see the Mediterranean Sea and part of Africa. I can’t wait to be in that location. Then we will be going up to Seville, then Cordoba, then we will end in Madrid where we will be there for 2 days. Then that will complete our 11-day tour in Spain,” Cox said.

The trip itself is pretty pricey, however guardians or students can set up a payment plan to help pay off some of the expenses. 

“From the time right now, we have about 19 months, and students can make monthly payments, which are under $300 so it’s pretty affordable for a student to make payments for that time frame or they can pay in full. The cost per student is around $4,500,” Cox said. 

The tour is sponsored by EF Tours, an educational company that has been around for more than 50 years and provides professional tours for students. EF Tours is providing them with a tour guide, which Cox is looking forward to.

“I highly value tour guides, because I learn more with a tour guide than with a book. It’s kind of like another teacher. So that’s why the company also offers the student the opportunity to get either high school or college credit, if they desire,” Cox said.

Something different about Spain compared to the U.S. is that they have longer days and longer breaks in their days.

“In Spain, I will say they’re pretty relaxed about their entire day, like work day. They go home to take what is called La siesta, which is the break in the middle of day to go home and eat lunch or to take a nap. So therefore, that makes their day a little longer, because then they will be eating dinner at 9 to 10 o’clock at night,” Cox said.

Cox is excited about the entire experience as a whole. She is ready to get familiar with the country of her native language since she has never been. 

“I had a couple things on my bucket list, like, oh, I need to go to Mexico, because I mostly toured the Caribbean and Central America, but to go to Spain, I just think it’s going to be pretty iconic. And I can also make a better connection while I’m teaching, for my students,” Cox said. 

this is a map of the places falcons will be visiting. (courtesy of EF Tours)

German teacher Rhett Neuer, along with the German teachers from the other Olathe schools, plan on going to Europe in two years.

“The trip will be in June of 2026, so not this summer but the next. We are sponsored by EF Tours. That’s the biggest educational tour company in the world,” Neuer said.

If you’re interested in finding more information about the trip, the QR code will direct you to the page, or you could go visit Neuer for more information.

“I’m in room 218, that is the best way to get some information about the trip. Otherwise, you can always scan the QR code[‘s around the school] that should send you to the website where you can find information about my trip specifically,” Neuer said.

The trip itself is pretty pricey, ranging around $5,000. However, Neuer says that the cost is worth the trip.

“We will be taking a private bus through most places when we’re in the city. We might take a tram just for the experience,” Neuer said. “The entire trip really covers a lot of what the entire cost is. So it is a couple thousand dollars which at first seems like a lot, when you consider that’s the plane tickets, the hotel stays, the museum entry fees, that’s the breakfast, that’s the dinner’s for the entire trip,  plus a couple of more things here and there, I would say it turns out to be a pretty good deal.”

Neuer chose Europe because he wanted to help students make a better connection with the language they are learning and thought going to some German speaking countries and experiencing their culture would be a good way to make that connection.

“Every single day, we’re going from one place to the other. Some of the things I’m really excited about are going to the Alps, just beautiful mountain range scenery. We will also be going to a concert in Vienna, hopefully something along the lines of Mozart or Beethoven,” Neuer said. 

He is also looking forward to showing his students what a Vienna schnitzel is.

“We will definitely have Vienna schnitzel, which a lot of people mistakenly think is sausage, which is actually not at all. It is a very thinly pounded down veal, or it also comes in chicken and pork, and then it is lightly breaded, and then fired, and then garnished with some lemon. So I’m looking forward to my students being able to see what that really is.” Neuer said.

Neuer says one of the biggest things students will gain from this experience, is the memories they make on the trip.

“The memories of being there with your friends, experiencing every single day, with all the different things that we will do. Experiencing different food, obviously the different culture, the sights, the sounds, they will gain an understanding of the things we can only imagine from over here,” Neurer said. “I mean, you can go on google right now, and you can google all the places that we’re going to go, but that really pales in comparison to being there.”

Use this link to access more information about the trip to Spain, or visit Tanya Cox in room 218.

Use this link to access more information about the Europe trip or go see Rhett Neuer in room 218.