While students were struggling with homework and dreading the sound of their 6 a.m. alarm, three students in the class of 2020 got the opportunity to fly to Paris and represent Staples High School.

Patricio Perez Elorza ’20, Audrey Bernstein ’20 and Natasha Johnson ’20 are the three students who have the highest GPAs in their class, giving them the chance to travel to France. The students went for a week at the end of September through early October.

“It was a great experience,” Perez Elorza said. “We got the chance to interact with scholars from other countries which was really cool.”  

The students were there for a week experiencing the differences between Staples and an international school. The students stayed with host families and discussed issues going on in the world of education.  

“We met up with other students from different countries and discussed solutions to social and environmental issues,” Bernstein said.  

Johnson said she got an inside look at what the daily school life is like for students in Paris and was able to experience a whole different educational culture.

“The people are generally more loose,” Johnson said. “The days are long there, they usually have school from eight o’clock until six o’clock during the week and sometimes have it on Saturdays for four hours.”

Outside of school, the students had the chance to explore the city in depth and enjoy themselves.

“We went to the beach a lot, played laser tag and ate at various delicious restaurants,” Perez Elorza said. “It was a lot of fun.”