Form a team of teachers to decide the number of students who will go on the trip and the classes from which they will be chosen.  

• Choose a destination.
• Set a date for and determine the length of the trip (if possible, avoid having the trip at the end of the school year or during the Victoria Day weekend).
• Establish a preliminary itinerary (see Annex A).
  
• Determine the cost for the substitute teachers who will replace the teachers going on the trip.
• Ask for proposals from Omnitour.
  
  

Submit an official trip proposal to the school administration. Include the following :

1. Project overview (Annex B).
   
2. Intercultural, educational and personal development objectives (Annex C).
3. Proposed dates and destination. At this stage, only the sample itinerary prepared by the team of teachers is required, not an exhaustive list of all the places to be visited (Annex D).
4. The number of students on the trip and the classes from which they will be drawn (Annex D).
   
5. Approximate trip cost (travel and accommodations, substitute teachers, insurance, etc.) (Annex D).
6. Fundraising methods (Annex D).
   
7. Process for selecting students for the trip (described below).
8. Trip preparation process (Annex E).
9. Procedures to follow before, during and after the trip (Annex F).
   
   

Start an advertising campaign aimed at the targeted students and classes.

1. Place posters around the school.
   
2. Have the school recreation technician make announcements to the student body.
   
3. Give information to the teachers of the targeted classes.
   
4. Give information directly to the targeted students.
5. Information package and sign-up sheet given to the teacher organizers, recreation technician and/or principal (Annex G).
6. Give students about three weeks to sign up for the trip.

Beginning of student selection process.

Begin evaluating the students who signed up for the trip.

Preliminary selection based on the students' academic standing. At this step, each applicant's grades and behaviour at school is weighed. It is important to not judge too harshly; a student may be doing poorly in one subject, but would otherwise be a model trip participant. However, students who are struggling academically or who have serious behavioural problems should be turned down.

At this step, students who are denied permission to participate on the trip should be notified of this decision in writing  (Annex H).

Selected students should be notified of this decision in writing. The letter they are sent should include information on the steps to follow (Annexe I).

Interviews are conducted with applicants lesser known to the organizers. Ideally, all of the selected students should go through the interview process, but this is not always feasible.

Hold one-on-one student interviews (Annex J).

Use the questionnaire provided for the interviews (Annex K).

At the end of the 10-minute interview, the student is given a letter describing the upcoming steps (Annex L).

Distribute comment sheets to the other teachers in early June and ask them to evaluate the selected students (Annex M). If possible, this step should be done prior to the one-on-one interviews. These comment sheets must remain confidential. Obtaining additional teacher feedback on the students is crucial, especially where students lesser known to the organizers are concerned. The letters written by the students in Step 1 are reviewed. The quality of the text can help the teacher organizers make a decision on whether or not to retain an applicant for the trip.

Meet with the selected students. We suggest holding a lunchtime meeting around mid-June, just before the start of exams. Students who do not attend this meeting are automatically stricken from the list of trip participants.

Evening meeting for all selected students and their parents (Annex R).

The students confirm they want to go on the overseas trip. Each student fills out and returns the official registration form at the end of the meeting (Annex N).

Parents are given a letter (Annex O) containing the following information :

• Number of students going on the trip.
• The reasons for which their child was selected for the trip.
• Fundraising activities planned for the fall.
  
• Preliminary itinerary.
• Phone numbers of the teacher organizers.
• Date of meeting in late September.
  
• Amount of the first deposit to be paid at the September meeting.
• Students are informed of the work they will have to do to get ready for the trip and are given travel preparation tips.
• Each student is notified that his or her acceptance for the trip is conditional on academic performance and upstanding behaviour. Should either be found wanting during the year, the student's status as trip participant will be reassessed, and he or she could be stricken from the list of trip participants.
  
• Students are encouraged to begin saving money for the trip (i.e. from a summer job) and not expect their parents to pay for everything.
  
• Students are informed that they must participate in the fundraising activities to be held over the year to raise money for the trip (for tips, emergencies, etc.).
  
• Students are told what is expected from them and the amount of work involved. At the end of the meeting, the teacher organizers will add the names of students who remain undecided about going on the trip to a list of alternate trip participants. This list also comprises students who were not selected after the interview process.
  

SUMMER HOLIDAYS

Meeting for all selected students (Annex P).

Update list of trip participants (withdrawals, etc.).

Send a notice for the late September meeting to all of the trip participants, their parents, the teacher organizers and, if necessary, a member of the school administration (Annex Q).

The teacher organizers review the trip and answer questions.

Distribute a document outlining the deposits, general conditions and trip cancellation fees. Be sure to point out that the cost of the trip is based on the number of participants (students and adult monitors). This means that every time a student withdraws from the trip, the cost for the others increases. To avoid unpleasant surprises, students and parents must be made aware of the cancellation fees that apply if a student withdraws from the trip. Mention that should a student be stricken from the list of trip participants by the teacher organizers, that student will be reimbursed in full; the same applies to a participant who withdraws early enough to be replaced by another. Parents usually accept these conditions (Annex S) without argument.

The students and parents fill out the health profile (Annex T)

It is preferable to have a few parents go on the trip to serve as adult monitors. The responsibilities of an adult monitor are explained during the meeting (Annex U). A parent interested in becoming an adult monitor should indicate this on his or her child's trip registration form. No particular criteria exist for choosing parents as adult monitors. However, parents who have experience working with youth or who practise certain professions (physician, nurse, social worker, etc.) have skills that could be a definite asset on the trip. Before you select the adult monitors, we suggest you invite the interested parents to participate in a few activities at the beginning of the school year and watch how they interact with the students. The number of adult monitors required depends on the size of your group, but we recommend a ratio of 1:10 (adults:students). The names of the parents selected as adult monitors should be announced in early November.

At the end of the meeting, the parents or students make their first payment by cheque made out to the school.

At this stage, some parents and students may still be hesitant about going on the trip. They may be granted a few days' grace to make a decision. Keep in mind that any student who withdraws from the trip will have to be replaced.

GENERAL INFORMATION

Ideally, the group should include :

• 2 teachers (preferably one man and one woman).
• 1 school staff member (principal, secretary, recreation technician, etc.).
• An even number of adult monitors (preferably 2 men and 2 women).
  
  

When asking for offers from travel agents specializing in school tours, be sure to verify the company's overseas travel experience. You should always ask for references and speak to teachers who went on a trip similar to the one you are planning.

1. Ascertain what is and is not included in a travel agency's offer. Some companies "forget" a few costs, like insurance or the tour director's salary, to obtain school contracts.
   
   
2. The school should keep careful records of the funds collected and remitted.
   
   
3. Ask that the participant's name and the trip destination be written on the back of each cheque.