Students' spring getaways include Florida, Mexico, Germany


Weston Buchan, a Glen Lake senior, is shown hoping to catch some waves during Spring
Break. One of his hobbies is freshwater surfing, which he is shown enjoying in January
off Van's Beach in Leland.

Spring didn’t officially begin until this week, and spring break is still more than a week away for students at Glen Lake High School.

But that doesn’t mean spring break isn’t on the minds of students – whether they’re going to Europe, Florida, Mexico or simply staying home. Spring break for most county students begins after school on Friday, March 30.

“I know it sounds cliché, but I’m most looking forward to shopping and eating,” said 16-year-old Riannon Roberts, who is going to Spain. She was one of eight Glen Lake students who shared their plans for spring break.

Roberts and Ian Vertel will join several other classmates on the trip to Spain, which will be chaperoned by teacher Jonathon Nelson.

“I worked at Cherry Republic last summer, and so I had the money to go on this trip,” said Vertel. “I just decided to take the trip a little bit ago, but I’m getting really excited to go.”

Vertel is a junior and, along with Roberts, is in his third year of studying Spanish at Glen Lake. “This should be a great opportunity for us to try and use our Spanish,” he said.

The Glen Lake contingent will meet up with other students from around the country in Spanish cities like Toledo and Barcelona.

The eight students approached the topic of spring break with a sense of both adventure and self-confidence.

“We have a great time together. It’s really a team-building experience,” said Cori Kahler, who will join her Glen Lake softball teammates on a “spring training” trip to play and practice in Charleston, S.C.

Also leaving the state for spring break is Will Hendricks, who is going to Mexico; Macy Henry, who will visit grandparents in Flordia; and Dane Hilliard, who is traveling to Germany with his parents. Not to be outdone by their globe-trotting classmates, Tyler Lukasiak proudly talks of his big trip to Bay City while Weston Buchan plans on taking a little dip in Lake Michigan on his surfboard.

Hendricks, a sophomore, is looking forward to visiting a Spanish-speaking country when he goes to Loreta, Mexico, with his parents.

“We’re going to stay with one of my dad’s long-time friends, who has a place right on the beach on the Baja Peninsula,” said Hendricks, who expects to be able to walk out the front door of the place he’s staying at and be able to get right on a boat.

“I’m really looking forward to going to order some real Mexican food, and I want to use my Spanish, too.” He said he’s been practicing the phrase, “Bedi aqua,” which he explained means, “I drink water.”

“It’s kind of a joke in my Spanish class. I keep practicing that phrase,” he joked.
For Henry, a freshman, the trip to Florida won’t be a new experience but it’s one she never gets tired of. She’ll go with her mother and brother to visit her grandparents, who spend their winters near Cape Canaveral.

“We go to visit my grandparents every spring break, so it’s a tradition with us. It feels great to get to the beach and get warm,” said Henry.

Kahler won’t go as far south as Florida, though she’s counting on plenty of sunshine and warmth in South Carolina so that the Laker softball team can experience some valuable practice time.

“We have a great time together. It’s really a team-building experience,” said Kahler, a junior who said that the girls stay in condos and take turns making meals. “We practice for about four hours a day, and then we go out touring. It’s a great time,” she said.

Hillard’s trip to Europe was sparked by the fact Glen Lake has a sister school in Haixbeck, Germany. Along with his parents, Donna and Kim, he will be at the home of the Wiecks, who the Hillards met through a foreign exchange program that their son Johanne Wieck was on a few years ago.

“Glen Lake has a sister school in Haixbeck, Germany. Several students came here to visit the school a few years back. Johanne and his family came here, and now and my family and I are going to visit them in Germany,” Hillard explained.

He said his parents have never been to Europe before, which will bring additional significance to the trip.

“We just think it’s a great experience to travel to other countries and to see how other people think about the world,” said Hillard, a senior. “I’m hoping to study abroad in the near future.”

For the 16-year-old Lukasiak, a sophomore, Bay City represents familiar territory.

“Bay City is just about where all of my family lives, so we end up going down there to visit them a lot,” he said. “We’re going to have an early Easter with them. We’ll probably just sit around, sleep and eat, but that will be okay. I’m up for a break.”
Buchan, 18, is the only one of the eight students who’s staying close to home, although his plans might be the most unique.

“I was going to go with the baseball team down south, but this year the coach decided we wouldn’t go, so I’m staying home. If the wind cooperates, I plan on taking my surfboard out,” he said.

He explained that although the best time to surf is the fall, he’s hoping to catch some pretty good waves on Lake Michigan.

“It is wicked cold out there, and sometimes it takes your breath away, but it’s a blast,” said Buchan, who said he’s learned a lot about the nature of the wind and the weather after taking on the sport of freshwater surfing. He said the he’s ridden waves as big as 18 feet off the beach at Van’s in Leland.

“If the weather isn’t good for surfing, I’ll just sit around and write songs and play my guitar,” Buchan said good naturedly.

No matter where the break, one thing seems true: After a long, cold winter of grinding away at the books, Glen Lake students are ready for a break.