The Argentina trip is an international learning opportunity for Mount Greylock students taking Spanish to go to St. Paul’s school in Argentina. In April 2024, twenty-five Mount Greylock Spanish students went to St. Paul’s School in Argentina, and last year students from Argentina traveled to Mount Greylock during April break. Both trips were huge successes, as students used their Spanish along with making friends and having fun. Going forward, some changes have been made to the trip by the Spanish department at Mount Greylock. 

First of all, only seniors will be able to attend the trip this year. This is due to the fact that St. Paul’s School is very small, and they are able to host a maximum of thirty Greylock students. There were some concerns that if juniors and seniors both signed up like the first year, there would be too many people, creating complications of who would get to go. 

Instead of sending Greylock students every other year, starting next year seniors and people in AP Spanish from Mount Greylock will be able to attend the Argentina trip on a yearly basis. This gives everyone an opportunity to go in their senior year. 

Another change is that the Spanish students will stay with host families instead of in a hotel. One reason for this is that students will get the amazing experience of living with and getting to know one of the families from Argentina. St. Paul’s School is confident that they will be able to find enough families for the thirteen students going to Argentina this April. Staying with host families also lowers the cost of the trip since students will no longer have to pay for a hotel. 

One challenge that the new changes make is that since only seniors can go, it means that students who have been taking Spanish since seventh grade will be required to take AP Spanish. This creates some conflict for seniors who want to take other classes and have to choose between continuing Spanish to the AP level or exploring other academic interests. However, it encourages people to stick with Spanish for all four years of high school. 

Overall, the changes to the trip ensure that Spanish students who want to take the trip are able to, rather than having to narrow down the group to avoid hitting a limit.