OKM Senior Band International Tours
Frequently Asked Questions
THIS IS STEP 1/7 STEPS TO REGISTER FOR EUROPE TOUR 2020:
OKM Senior Band International Tours "Frequently Asked Questions"
We understand that because our OKM Senior Band Europe tours are an extraordinary school activity, students and parents will need to have lots of information about safety, costs/benefits, budgets, group travel...before making an informed decision.
All Parents and Students must carefully read and understand this before signing the PARENT PERMISSION FORM, as these are the "Terms and Conditions" of the OKM Senior Band Europe Tour 2020. This ensures we have the best understanding and good communication. All of this FAQ information is vetted by SD23 - so the guidelines, policies, and terms and conditions of the tour are infused within the answers below. All of the information is believed to be accurate but is not guaranteed and should be independently verified if needed. Please contact Mr. Schnellert if you have questions or need further clarification.
Q: Why Croatia and Vienna for 2020?
When the OKM Senior Bands toured Croatia in 2014, we were incredibly impressed by the friendly people, arts, architecture, history, culture, climate, safety, the "un-crowdedness", and pricing - so we knew we had to come back and share this with more OKM music students!
In 2017, we asked our Music students to ask with their families if they had any personal connections in Europe in general, and Croatia specifically. We had some great early success: our Band Parents have have connected us with their personal family networks and connections in Croatia - bringing us potential musical partners within the wonderful communities - to host our students and share creating musical projects to celebrate and share rich learning about culture, history, and fellowship as we perform and tour. These kinds of connections help us learn and perform music with the people. The connections are what makes this tour a "once-in-a-lifetime" for most students.
We have also made some inroads with the Okanagan Croatian Club, in Kelowna, and musicians in Croatia We want to learn about the music which gives links to Croatian history and culture, so we can perform together and share "the universal language" of music. It's very affirming that by entering the process of learning music, travelling, and sharing, we learn that we have so much in common with people across the globe...it's optimistic, and incredible "21st Century Learning".
Update: We have added Italy to start the tour, and Vienna to conclude.
Q: What are the travel dates for Tour 2020?
Q: What is the itinerary for Europe 2020?
The itinerary is Italy, Croatia, and Vienna, subject to tweaking to meet budget and music project goals. Highlights include 4 exceptional concert opportunities including performing in Dubrovnik, Croatia, plus touring Rome and a taking in a concert in the Grand Hall in Vienna. We cannot post detailed itinerary/dates online - so only parents of traveling students will be provided with password protected access to the itinerary.
Q: What is the tour budget?
$4250
Q: What's included in the tour price?
All flights, 24/7 supervision, venue entrance fees, hotels/hostels accommodation, instrument transport/rentals, all breakfasts and dinners, Tour Jackets, and excellent travel insurance. All budgets, policies, and procedures must approved by the Board of Trustees, our OKM Principal and SD23 Senior Staff.
Q: Do you have a financial support plans for all students?
Absolutely. We want to include any student who wants to tour, so we engage our entire learning community through the Band Parents' Association who create fundraising opportunities for all students, as a team. Giving many years of notice to prepare, and planning well in advance, are the first steps in supporting students.
"Where there’s a will, there’s a way" - if students want to participate, Band Parents’ Association provides fundraising over 6 years. Our OKM Band Parents’ Organization has a solid history of providing the fundraising opportunities, and we are very grateful for all the parent volunteers, who work on behalf of the kids. Every band student (about 450), has a separate “account”, and is credited according to their sales/work. In every senior tour we’ve ever done, some students have paid off 100% of their trip through OKM fundraising - and they’ve learned about delaying gratification, and hard work, along the way. We encourage you to help by volunteering on the online Fundraising Parent Registration form. The OKM Band teachers are involved by forwarding invitations to the Europe Tour parents, and setting up connections between parents, for possible extra fundraisers for the Europe Tour. Our OKM Band Fundraising manager(s) will oversee and liaison between the partners.
Our District policy ensures all students have access to all educational programs, regardless of financial circumstances. The reason we do these tours is all about the learning through a musical project that enriches and elevates the music into cross-curricular learning for all students in the entire program - the pressures and excitement of this local OKM project elevates all if the learning. However, the actual travelling aspect is not needed to achieve these extraordinary learning outcomes. Our Regrowth Project of 2017 is a great example where ALL the students learned and contributed within the classroom and in Kelowna, but the extra-curricular travel was not required to achieve the educational outcomes of the groups' learning project.
Q: How much spending money is needed?
Students will need cash for most lunches, as finding good eats is a memorable, fun, and enriching part of travelling. Budget minded lunches are possible if students buy in grocery stores…but if you buy in restaurants, be careful - the tourist traps will be very expensive. Before travel, our Tour Company will suggest the rough amount needed for these lunches.
Q: What's the payment schedule for Europe Tour 2020?
To best prepare students and parents, we have given notice over several years, and especially at our Band Parent meeting on February, 2017, and updated in December, 2018, and on Feb 6, 2019, that the following payments will be required:
Details from Mariden:
Late payment fee (applicable only for the payment after the deposit):
Please be informed that any payment received to our office after the date of payment, 5PM MT, is subject to $150 late payment fee per person. If Mariden office does not receive the payment 3 weeks after the payment deadline, traveller name will be deleted from travelers and insurance list. If final payment is not received 15 days after your payment deadline, Mariden will remove your name from the group list and cancel your flight reservation
They will use the email address - to send the e-transfer. We will receive an email saying that the particular person sent money to us. In the meantime, the parents/students will receive an email saying that the money that they sent to Mariden International has been accepted.
Mariden Payment Options-Interac payment: price as printed in the program (no merchant or processing fees) To send payment by Interac, please use this email address: [email protected] Important note when paying by Interac transfer: Please put these information in the message box: -Name of the student/traveller -Name of the school or organization (OKM) -
Individual cheque payment: add 2% processing fee
PAYPAL (VISA or MasterCard) payment: add 4.5% merchant fee on each instalment (i.e) on $500 payment your total will be $522.50
Q: Can any student participate?
As a condition of travel, all students must first be endorsed by the OKM School Based Team (SBT) for this extra-curricular tour. Parents of students who have needed behavioural and socio/emotional supports, interventions, and/or modified/adapted plans at OKM must consult with Mr. Schnellert or an OKM SBT member before registering their son/daughter(s), to ensure this tour will be a good fit for all participants.
The OKM music program has a deeply held core value that accepts all learners into our classroom and local community learning: we welcome all learners into our classes and courses, no matter their level of musicianship, or behavioural/learning capacities - we work to make sure all students have the potential for success and feeling like they matter as we learn together and play music together within our OKM community. We have gentle hearts for students who struggle with learning and/or behaviour, and for extending our support to the parents and families.
However, the extra-curricular OKM Senior Band Europe tour extends the learning and experience for the group well beyond the supports students would normally have in their homes, and/or at OKM. Therefore, everyone must carefully consider the readiness of all students to be sure this tour is a good fit.
The OKM music program has a deeply held core value that accepts all learners into our classroom and local community learning: we welcome all learners into our classes and courses, no matter their level of musicianship, or behavioural/learning capacities - we work to make sure all students have the potential for success and feeling like they matter as we learn together and play music together within our OKM community. We have gentle hearts for students who struggle with learning and/or behaviour, and for extending our support to the parents and families.
However, the extra-curricular OKM Senior Band Europe tour extends the learning and experience for the group well beyond the supports students would normally have in their homes. The learning and supports that are available to help students at OKM and/or the students' homes will not be available for 12 days of rigorous international travel. Therefore, everyone must carefully consider the readiness of all students to be sure this tour is a good fit.
As a condition of travel, all students must have the confidence and endorsement of the OKM School Based Team (which may be comprised of OKM Administrators, teachers, Counsellors, Certified Educational Assistants, Behavioural Specialists, and/or Academic Intervention staff) who will affirm that all students can manage the tour. Students who have demonstrated past behavioural challenges, such as "willful defiance", and/or other concerns as assessed by OKM SBT, may not qualify if their participation in the rigours of international group travel could elevate the risks to the safety and wellness of themselves and/or other participants.
As a condition of participation, all students are held to the same standards: they need to have demonstrated through all previous OKM classwork and personal/social interactions, that they are able to treat themselves and others with care and compassion, comply with all rules, and follow the directives given by teachers, administrators, and/or all OKM learning support staff, and reasonably manage the heightened and extended emotional and physical challenges.
This cannot be understated. All students must be able to perform with the highest discretion possible as "young adults". They must have earned the confidence of OKM staff, that they will be able to handle the potentially extreme rigours of the tour, including consistent age-appropriate self-regulating, healthy decision making, taking direction, and following very strict rules.
We know that it's sometimes the case for a student, that rather than "choosing" unsafe behaviours, they simply can't, at times, make the best decisions. For example, a student may be working through ongoing bouts of extreme anxiety or depression, which could manifest in behaviours where anger, defiance, and/or sabotage will flare up. Often, the triggers happen when an expectation isn't met. While at OKM, full support and "off-ramps" are readily available to give care and support - and we can quickly partner with parents - but that's not the case with international travel.
We (all parents of all participating students, and OKM and District staff) must carefully consider that this is an extraordinary, extra-curricular opportunity that puts students into 12 days of high stresses of international travel with a big group. A single poor behavioural decision by any student can cause the entire group to be put at risk of harm. When all parents sign the "Parent Permission" form, we list the "Inherent Risks of Participating", where we describe mostly the external risks, such as hotel stays, free time, airport/bus travel, pickpockets, etc. We point out that "...students who make poor choices may cause elevated risks to themselves and/or others".
Therefore, we have to find the best balance: where the OKM responsibility of reasonably attending to the exceptional needs of any individual can't cross the line of causing elevated risks to other students and/or tour participants. Therefore, if any student has a history of having shown willful defiance of OKM staff, or has not demonstrated the capacity to be self-regulating in complying or coping well within the reasonable day-to-day rules at OKM, then for their own good, and the safety of the group, and after giving all parents full opportunities to share their thoughts and ideas - some students may be ineligible.
As part of our usual and daily work at OKM, we rely on the advice that comes from our School Based Team (SBT), which may be comprised of highly qualified OKM Administrators, teachers, Counsellors, Certified Educational Assistants, and Academic Intervention staff. SBT usually partners with parents to help support students who have exceptional educational needs, to make things work well in the classroom for best personal/social learning. All decisions are made in a case-base-case manner, with consulting with parents.
As a condition of the tour, all parents must agree to accept the decision made by the OKM Principal, who will approve the list of students that SBT has assessed as being reasonably able to manage the rigours of this tour.
Q: We missed registration - can you accept latecomers?
We will do our best - but it depends on the timing - the later it is, the more difficulty we experience in booking flights, etc. If an enrolled student withdraws, the Travel Company might be able to arrange a transfer of the ticket.
Q. How is this related to learning music?
All of our music is connected to extended learning about ourselves, our teamwork, and our place in community. For our 2020 Tour, the learning themes will start around “Purpose, Belonging, and Gratitude”, and evolve as we partner and learn with students, the parents, and Croatian people. The starting musical learning theme was inspired by the choral piece "Prayer of the Children", by Kurt Bestor. This music was written to reveal the shared feelings of confusion and sadness felt by the children of Bosnian, Serbian, and Croatian ethnic backgrounds, living within the war-torn former Yugoslavia.
By engaging in this learning, our OKM Senior music students develop their perspectives through the Core Competencies, and especially around the “Personal & Social” learning, by discovering and considering the experiences of others - where the communities and cultures can be both the creators and destroyers of architectural, cultural, political and environmental realms. This allows our youth to better view the present with a deeper understanding and connection with the past, to find our place within this constant continuum of change - there is rich “Personal/Social” learning.
We are connecting with the Croatian Canadian club of Kelowna, and with Croatian people who are related to some of our Band students. Overall, we want to learn and think about how community values are created and reinforced, and how journeys of hardship, gratitude, and belonging serve to inform our identities as individuals, and as members of an ensemble - and a OKM student musicians learning and performing together is a perfect metaphor.
Q: What experience does the OKM Music Program have with Senior International Tours?
This OKM Music program's extra-curricular opportunity is built on an exceptionally experienced foundation, placing us among the top youth touring programs across Canada.
At OKM, every third year, since 1998, we’ve taken our Senior musicians to international stages on these optional and extra-curricular tours - in Japan, South Korea, Italy, Germany, Austria, France, the Netherlands/Holland, the Czech Republic, Britain, Wales, Croatia, Hungary, and the United States
One example of our experience with tour management and logistics: Our biggest tour involved 150 students and adults. It lasted 12 days, over 6 countries, with a budget approaching $500,000.00. We organized 4,200 meals. Our land travel required 3 double wide chartered busses with a gear trailer. We organized a “parallel tour” for parents (no longer an option...sorry). We coordinated 16 flights, and, of course, the instruments, including transport, rental pickups and drops, and borrowing...and concerts! It was both a monumental undertaking and an orchestrated success, with the returning students’ stories and memories serving as positive testimony to the value of the OKM Band tours and that our tour management strategies work for best safety and efficiency.
Everything we've learned, from all of these tours, we apply to our current management systems to current tours - today's students inherit this.
See our Past International Tours for details.
Q: How do you plan the itinerary?
All of the activities conducted at OKM music are designed to improve collaborative learning for all students from Grade 7-12. This optional tour is an extension of the ongoing musical learning with community outreach OKM, where we strive to connect our students with collaborative opportunities that can enrich development of all Core Competencies. This project creates student-centered deep learning where all students are exploring important content and developing Competencies.
Our framework always begins around the curriculum; we want students to experience meaningful learning, and the healthy pressure that leads to peak performance...for music to communicate meaningful sentiments with depth and resonance.
We reached out to all OKM Band Parents in 2017, asking for personal connections to help us set up shared performances with Croatian musicians, and/or for Croatian communities. When we find personal connections...it's gold...so these locales become the epicentre of the overall itinerary planning.
About 2 years out, we present a first draft itinerary, which always evolves and changes according to the gigs we find, the numbers of students who sign up, and budgets. That process takes hundreds of emails between our tour company, international partners, and SD23 administration...where our team balances dozens of factors. We always invite all students and parents to share their ideas and preferences. Having said that - the tour is subject to change at any time...sometimes during the actual tour. It's just the nature of travel, so with large groups, parents/students have to be okay with this, and "hold it lightly" if/when an unexpected change happens.
Q: Do you hire a professional tour company?
Yes. We hire a registered professional tour company. They will work with us to plan the itinerary, and provide local guides. We must have a tour company ready to support all students in case there are unexpected changes or emergencies during the tour.
We have several professional tour companies bid for every tour. They are selected based on the quality of their itinerary proposed, the musical connections and concerts they provide, and budget. For this tour, Mariden Tours is our partner and Travel Agent - we are excited that Mario Skrpec of Mariden has exceptional connections to wonderful concert opportunities in Croatia for our students, and an excellent travel itinerary.
Q: Where is the best information about this tour?
Always - it's on this OKM Music Website. Group text messages through the "Remind" service will also give quick updates and reminders to students and parents - this is a courtesy, as all participants are to keep up to date on their responsibilities via the website.
Q: Why can't we use Band Student fundraising accounts for all the payments?
We are proud that the OKM Music program is unique in the way we are financially supporting students: rather than putting all the fundraising money into one account, we maintain individual account balances for each of the 500+ OKM music students, so the students who do the work earn their own profits. This is a cornerstone to keeping the tour accessible to all students: if students are willing to work, and the OKM Band Parents continue to facilitate fundraising opportunities, any student can participate in this extra-curricular and optional tour,
However, this great policy to help students and parents comes at a great labour cost to our Band Parent volunteers, who are doing the bookkeeping and maintaining the ledger. Asking volunteers to reconcile the fundraisers into the student accounts, and generating 300 invoices...it's too much.
Q: Can Band Parent fundraising that happens after the tour be paid to students?
Yes - Band Parents can still do fundraising AFTER the tour, up to June 1, 2020, and we will write cheques to participating students.
Q: What is the planning schedule?
We give lots of advance notice to help guide students and parents to make a well informed decision before the first non-refundable payment happens:
Q: Is there travel insurance? Yes. The Manulife Global Youth/Student Deluxe Policy is included, and purchased for our group by the Tour Agent, Mariden Tours. Having excellent insurance is a mandatory inclusion (you must be a Canadian Citizen and hold a valid provincial health card to enjoy full coverage). Benefits include: cancellation and interruptions protection, unlimited emergency medical, subsistence allowance to pay for necessities during an extended stay, flight and travel accident protection and baggage and personal effects due to loss or delay. "...if the school board determines there is a risk of harm to you during your school trip because of an identified threat arising from an event that occurred within 90 days of your scheduled departure date. In addition, the school trip, or a portion of the school trip, included a visit or a stay in the area or vicinity where the event occurred."
Please note that medical coverage may be limited if you have a pre-existing condition or a change in your health status between now and the tour dates and the Tour Company must be advised.
Q: Are all students from other countries covered by the Manulife policy?
If a student is a Canadian Resident who has Canadian Government Health Insurance (GHIP), then they are entitled to be covered under the Youth policy.
If they are not a Canadian Resident and do not have GHIP they cannot be insured under this coverage. They would not be entitled to Medical and not package coverage of any kind.
Q: Why do you do these big tours?
They help to significantly enhance the music in the classroom for every student, including those who don’t travel with us, as commensurate with the higher stakes, there comes a stronger focus and work ethic in our year’s rehearsals. The extraordinary effort, challenge, and outcomes are healthy for our students and music program, as it engages our learning community, and proves that what we are doing in the class has significance. For all of OKM, our tours help create a culture of excellence and school spirit, which can transfer to academic achievement, as students have something great to look forward to in their high school. Students mature greatly during these tours. Socially, being in Europe for almost 2 weeks is a great equalizer, as students must rely on one another for support, and they realize that the social constructs that rule at high school can be artificial, as the cliques often dissolve during the tour, as the students get to know each other in a new light. The students and teachers need to trust each other to “deliver the goods” – it proves our commitment by extending the classroom far beyond OKM’s halls.
Q: If a student decides to not go on the trip, should they drop Senior Band?
No! Non-participating students always benefit, as our rehearsals will have a very strong boost as we all learn the music together with a heightened focus on excellence. The tour is mostly during the first week of Spring Break. There will be minimal discussion of the tour during regular Band classes.
Q: What do past students say were their favourite parts of the tours?
Some might predict it’s the iconic landmarks we’ve visited - like when we cruised down the Seine River before ascending to the top of the Eiffel Tower to view the midnight lights in Paris…or entered the Colosseum in Rome; we’ve walked over the Charles Bridge in Prague; looked up to Michaelangelo’s work in the Sistine Chapel, listened to Verdi in the Vienna Opera House, and entered many grand palaces, castles, and places of worship in Tokyo, Seoul, Florence, and Versailles, etc. These destinations have brought some of the best memories for students, as they are steeped with incredible history, art, architecture, spirituality, and music.
However, our students consistently say the concerts, music, and the people are the best parts.
Q: Safety - How do the teachers manage so many teenagers safely during the tour?
Traveling with safety includes the "well-being" of everybody. It's common for students to feel excited, nervous, anxious, overwhelmed, and/or overjoyed..at any given time of the tour, or even during the lead-up.
The OKM Music Program has conducted hundreds of highly successful tours, with countless students. We rely on lots of planning, organizational systems, and strong teamwork with highly qualified teachers. Most importantly, we expect our great OKM students will “buy in” to our values. In having conducted hundreds of multi-day student travel tours, we’ve learned some “tried and true” strategies to provide the best possible potential for safety and efficiency:
Evening Hotel Room Checks:
For the wellness of the team: we check in regularly, both as a team, and as individuals. Every evening, a teacher will do hotel room checks before sleep time. We check in the students in each room, and ask the students if they are well - physically and emotionally. We have fun chats about how the day's events went, and what's ahead. We tell them what they need to do to prepare for the next day's activities. We communicate with Google Docs the itinerary and timing stuff. We remind students of our very strict safety rules: They cannot leave the room for any reason other than a fire alarm, until the designated morning time. For any evening emergency, they must phone the front desk, where they are best assured to have immediate attention. Hotel staff will contact teachers to attend to any emergency.
Healthy Social/Personal:
We are taking our students out of their comfort zones and their home routines, and into places that have different cultures, food, and landscapes. This moves us into places of deeper learning: about personal resilience, patience, empathy, and the good feeling of contributing to the team through music. Growth often happens best when we move out of the comfort zones! With music as the metaphor - as every musician matters - that's how we want our students to feel about supporting each other.
Students must tell teachers if they personally are not feeling well, and/or if they notice another student might need some support.
Systems:
Our favourite word is "systems" - we have lots of highly effective systems for planning, supervising, and running the tour, which have been informed by over 35 years of touring experience.
Fast and accurate headcounts are done with our trained systems - we can get an accurate count of 120+ students within 30 seconds. This is best for touring efficiency, and ensuring all students are always accounted for.
Passports/Documents: The teachers only allow students to hold their own travel documents during border crossings. At all other times, we take them for safe-keeping.
We strive for good positive and proactive communication, sensible delegation, repetition of our routines, and ensuring everybody knows their valued roles. We plan according to our predictions of the mood of the group during the day, and at different stages of the tour - we pace the itinerary to address the needs of the students, with time for healthy socializing, exercise, nutrition, rest, etc. Everybody needs a bit of “away time” to recharge from the busy and intense times – we give some “buddy system” supervised free time, where most days, students have a bit of time to buy lunch and/or shop in small groups (see the Permission Form for details). For everything that’s a “pain”, there’s always something we’ve planned just ahead that’s a “gain” – to keep our positive motivation and focus, and avoid the “cranky pants”. For example, here’s a conversation I had in Paris in 2005:
Students: “Mr. Schnellert – it’s raining! That sucks!”
My Reply: “How wonderful! We’re getting rained on in PARIS!!”
Oddly enough, the long bus rides are usually another one of the favourite parts of the trip for the students…that’s where most of those great quirky and corny “road trip” inside jokes are hatched…
Q: What kind of performances do you do?
Our bands tend to be quite large, with unpredictable blends of instruments, across a wide range of playing abilities between the 10-12’s. This lends itself towards more informal, “friendly” venues. We prefer to perform with other musicians in a manner that is like a community gathering, rather than at formal competitions or festivals, or concerts. It’s a challenge to find venues and hosts that can accommodate our large bands, and whose performance expectations match ours – but we’ve always delivered.
Our best gigs are when we perform together with youth from other cultures - that's an ambitious, challenging, and worthy goal!
Q: Where do you play?
It’s all about finding the best gigs first - and these always come from personal connections and networking, where Band Parents put us in touch with musicians and groups from their family's hometowns. These places form the hub for all the rest of the itinerary planning.
Often, the logistics and red tape in organizing performances in the big “touristy” places are prohibitive - and, there’s not much novelty for Parisians, Venetians, or Salzburgers to meet more tourists - so instead, in the past, we’ve found great success connecting with musicians “off the beaten path”, in communities like Grossblittersdorf, Hanau, Ellewangen, Eusebois, and Thum – places you’ve likely never heard of. Yet, for some of our OKM Band alumni, a mention of these cities will bring back great memories of performing “Ross Roy” in joint concerts and massed bands; or “Steigermarsch” while a thousand audience sang along, or the “Regrowth” concert - 100 OKM students performed together in a massed orchestra with 50 French and 50 German musicians; we played to glowing reviews in 9 European newspapers.
In 2017, we two of our OKM Senior Band student played our Regrowth music with their cousins in Holland, after having connected us with a wonderful group of musicians in the Netherlands.
People familiar with Europe might think “…why are they going there…? Just down the road it’s much nicer”. Our venues have ranged from schools, to public squares, to concert halls. Throughout the 3 year process, our Tour Company will work with OKM teachers and Band Parents to source our venues, and confirmation and commitments we make are subject to the results of this registration.
Q: How do you connect with the other cultures?
Before and after our concerts, we often rehearse and socialize with our hosts. We’ve had pot-luck dinners with impromptu concerts in the basement of a thousand year old church; disco-dancing lessons in Frankfurt, and tea ceremonies in Tokyo. We’ve reciprocated, and hosted youth from Japan and Germany in Kelowna; taking them to the Kettle Valley trestles, and to 108 mile for a Western barbeque, and a Rockets game, was a blast. These cultural exchanges, all brought through the context of our music, can be extraordinary. Many past students have kept up their connections with the students they met on our tours.
Q: What do students learn about travel?
While they are on tour with us, we take care of all of the air, land, transfers, and accommodations. We take care of their passports, luggage, and travel documents. They get familiar with travel routines, like how to pack, travel light, and experience European hotels, hostels, and shopping, and this builds their confidence for independence after they graduate and leave “the nest”. They are given age-appropriate freedom with strict limits and boundaries in “buddy systems” - to find a bite to eat, or do a bit of shopping each day.
Q: What are the accommodations?
For the best budget and experience, students are together in rooms often in groups of 4, but it can range from 2 to 10 students (rare) per room. Safety is #1 priority, so the hotels must be in safe areas. Our itinerary is packed, so students are usually very tired and want us to hurry up with our room checks - and they can sleep well. We try to put students into groups of their friends, and we work with them to make sure they’re as comfortable as possible, but they can learn to grin if it’s not ideal. Students must use the “buddy system” at all times in hotels/hostels.
Q: What was the process to create this tour?
It’s within our “6 year plan”, where tours are reasonably paced from Grade 8-12.
Our typical 3 year planning cycle for the Senior Tours is:
In Year One the tour must be approved in principle at the General Meeting for Band Parents. The OKM administration and SD23 Trustees must be informed and give tentative approve in principle. A professional tour company is hired (several companies will quote).
Early in Year 2 , we host a Launch Meeting in the Multi-Purpose room. Students and parents can sign up online between March and April, of Year 2. This gives families lots of time to make a strong and informed decision.
In Year 3, we work through the fall and winter to prepare our bands for performances, and the students and parents for the travel.
Q: Who is planning this, and what are their roles?
Q: Who chaperones the tour?
The chaperone team is selected to give students the best “by the book” supervision and guiding - for bringing the highest standards in safety, training and experience, creating positive tour temperaments, planning with effective and accurate management, and the delivery of ongoing powerful educational lessons and units (both pre and post tour). These are all crucial cornerstones, as nothing can be left to chance.
Thus, we will rely on OKM teachers and/or administrators and our professional tour managers to be the chaperones, as they can best deliver all of these outcomes for this tour. Depending on the final numbers, it's about 4 OKM staff. From past experience, this is also the best for the culture of the student group. The chaperone team also works at OKM, during rehearsals, to actively train students to be prepared for load-in, load-out, gear and hotel transfers, safety procedures.
Q: Why can't a parents chaperone these tours? What are the costs?
For best safety, nothing is left to chance. Within the role of "tour chaperone", there are significant differences between "leading" and "guiding":
With OKM staff as chaperones, the entire tour benefits from 60+ years of experience in BOTH leadership and guiding, whereas from past experience, while most parents have excellent skills in "guiding", their capacity to "lead" is very limited because they are not interacting and building positive team relationships with our OKM students on a regular basis.
Parents are invited to make their own travel arrangements and join us for our public concerts, but not for our travel, accommodations, or our student group touring. The Travel Company might assist in your planning, but not at added expense to the OKM tour.
In terms of our cultural goals and student perspectives: the group dynamics of having parents joining our band tours would be similar to those we'd encounter if parents asked to sit on the bench during a volleyball game in a tournament, or sit in our OKM classes during rehearsals...that would detract from the students learning as a team where they interact and rely on one other and their coaches.
In terms of student learning, we must all support these healthy boundaries. We have a "team bonding" experience as musicians...this tour gives incredible opportunities towards positive personal growth and the building of resilience - as these "young adults" learn to rely on themselves and their peers/team to thrive during all of the ups and downs, and social interactions that are intensified during the tours.
From past experience, if parents accompany a senior tour of Grade 10-12 students, it impacts our goals towards developing healthy team interdependence, and development of independence and resilience. All costs for guiding, management, supervision, and leadership are included in the tour - this 24/7 caregiving for students usually costs around 1.5 - 2% of the budget.
Q: What are the legalities, liabilities, and risks?
The inherent risks of participation will be listed on the “Parent Permission” Form - they will have been vetted by SD23 Senior Administration. There will also be a “Tour Company Contract". Parents must review all aspects of the tour and understand the risks before giving permission. Financially, we will be under contract with the Tour Company, and there are no funds from SD23.
Q: What safety measures do you have in place?
Safety is the highest priority of School District No.23. A team of experienced OKM teachers is supervising, along with the Tour Company Managers, and local guides. We strictly enforce our rules; our management culture is to “run a tight ship” . We hold all passports and tickets on behalf of the students. All students will have “emergency cards”, giving them 24/7 emergency cell phone access to teachers/guides. Night accommodation is in hotels with private rooms.
Every night, the teachers check every student, in every room to see if everybody’s okay, and we explain the routines for the next day, with reminders about the rules. Because wifi access is easily available in hotels and most public areas, we give students push notifications of each days' schedule, in real time.
During day tours, we divide students into smaller alphabetic groups for accurate headcounts. We can line up and count 100 students, alphabetically, in 30 seconds. When we give students bits of free time to buy lunch in safe areas in mid day, or do some shopping, we choose very public areas, like “town squares”, according to the advice of our local tour guides, and we have regular check-in times.
The risks are significantly amplified if students break our very strict rules, or make poor choices. We can contact emergency services 24/7, and we do not hesitate to contact parents at any time. Ultimately, the decisions made by the students are the cornerstone of their own personal safety.
For example, it is age-appropriate and common for our Grade 10-12 students to shop at Orchard Park Mall without the direct supervision of their parent/guardian. Those risks are minimal, but if the student decides to break rules and take risks, their safety is compromised.
Q: What is the emergency communication plan between the tour and parents?
Q: What if a student has a special diet?
Make sure to give details on all forms, as all dietary requests, allergies, etc, will be accommodated to the best of our abilities, with a shared onus between the students, parents, and organizers for safety. We will forward that data (confidential), to the Tour Company, who will forward to all of our planned meals (breakfasts/dinners). Parents are encouraged to support our message to students - although they can be assured that we have contacted the restaurants, the student with a special diet must also communicate effectively to inform the servers when the food happens to ensure accuracy. Often, while we are settling 100 students, the proprietors are already serving before we arrive.
To overcome language barriers, we gave special diet students a paper notice for them to put on their plates in the restaurant while we told the managers to look out for these.
Q: If somebody gets sick, can you give medicine?
Teachers have no authority to administer medications. Students can bring their own parent approved personal “over-the-counter” meds, or prescriptions, but they have to be listed on the “ONLINE REGISTRATION" data.
Q: What about medical conditions that might make travel difficult for students?
We value making our tours as accessible as possible. All students must be able to handle the rigours and stresses associated with international travel. Contact Mr. Schnellert to discuss options to support you.
Q: How will this tour affect academic classes?
Students will miss a few of their classes. They are fully expected to fulfil all academic requirements. Some teachers may require work be done before the tour, or that students catch up afterwards. In all cases, students must collaborate with all of their teachers in a timely manner to make sure all responsibilities are met. Students are invited to bring study materials on tour. Research shows that academic achievement is often improved if students are deeply engaged in such band projects and learning music. We will invite participating chaperone teachers to organize tutorials to further support students...if things line up.
Q: Can I make plans to extend the tour for my son/daughter - perhaps meet them in Europe at the end of the tour and stay longer?
Sorry - this is strictly not possible. The SD23 policy is that if you depart with us, you come home with us. We did allow deviations on past tours, but we now regard this as too risky for the group, and individuals. We simply cannot predict everything that could go wrong, resulting in the parent not connecting with their son/daughter.
For example, we had a scenario where a parent was to pick up their OKM senior band student before our return flight. The plan was to have the parent in our departing town several days before departure, to ensure a good transition. However, this parent’s passport and wallet were stolen while they were alone in Greece, so they were stranded, and could not meets us...their child did not have a return flight ticket with OKM. Our OKM/Travel Agent team had to scramble to make remedies. The fallout took several teachers away from attending to the rest of the students on the tour. This is one example of many that have happened over the years, that have informed us when making this policy.
We are fine with parents picking up their son/daughter in Vancouver when we land - subject to having a plan in writing, approved by the Principal. However, the parent cannot take the student until after we have done the normal headcount on our tour bus.
Sorry, but it is extremely hectic for the OKM teachers to manage large groups of students who must clear customs, move luggage, inventory instruments, and maintain our headcounts through all the checkpoints, all within busy and noisy airports. We've had past experience where 6 families have wanted to take their students away in Vancouver, and they were pulling students out of our systems during this hectic process..and we had to interrupt our group management systems with too many variables...we cannot afford to lose track of our headcounts at any time. It's fine to meet us outside of the airport in the bus parking area.
Q: I saw an ad for a cheap flight to Europe – why can’t we get those prices?
It’s “apples and oranges". Group tours must book in advance - Airline luggage charges for large amounts of instruments are very expensive. We charter coaches and hire drivers to accompany for 24/7 during tour. We must rent drums, PA systems, etc...costly...
Q: Do students need custom tour jackets included in the tour?
Yes. They help to our sense of “team”; we look and feel more professional, they serve to quickly dress up all students for more formal occasions, and they are decent for the weather. On the front is our OKM Europe logo; on the back is a Canadian maple leaf.
Q: What should I pack?
We will give you an online check-list of what you need, including performance clothes, so you don’t over-pack. ALL students MUST pack a MEDIUM checked-bag under 50 pounds. Lugging massive suitcases up and down narrow European stone stairways “gets old...real quick…”.
Q: What should I pack?
A few weeks before travel, we will host a final prep evening event, where we will perform music, and practice lining up, moving gear and luggage. At that time, students will bring their intended suitcases.
Q: What if we sign up, but have to withdraw - can we expect a refund?
Sorry - no, but there are a few exceptions, as per the conditions of the travel insurance policy.
Q: Why no refunds?
...because the money will have been spent for airline tickets, etc, and withdrawals cause substantial difficulties on the entire group of students and the management teams.
The entire tour is non-refundable to help students and parents be sure they can make the solid commitments we need from everyone. Because this is an extra-curricular and optional tour, there are zero funds available from OKM or the School District to cover any liabilities...and unexpected withdrawals are always a financial liability.
When you make your commitment to tour and make your first payment during registration, the tour company will immediately reserve your flight tickets, venues, and work to accommodate you into the tour, and the budget. Most booking items from vendors require non-refundable deposits.
If a person withdraws, it triggers a very complicated domino-effect: Everything has to be re-booked and recalculated across the entire tour: all hotels, meals, venues, tickets, so the cost ratios change, putting upwards pressure on the budget (fewer students to share bussing costs, etc). We have to burden our hosts by asking them to update their records. The concert set ups of assigned seating, the instrument lists with serial numbers, student chaperone groups, District lists...all have to be contacted and/or redone.
In a nutshell - withdrawals force us to re-book the entire tour. That costs the Tour Company and OKM staff valuable and expensive time. It also puts upwards pressure on the budgets: the other students will not be “on the hook” to pay for these liabilities.
Past experience compels us to be very clear: students and parents cannot expect refunds. Having said that, OKM staff will always do our best to advocate for our students, and work hard to find creative solutions on a "case-by-case" basis. HOWEVER, our OKM courtesies should not be construed as an entitlement, precedence, or a softening of the "No Refunds" policy.
Q: Should I take my cell phone?
Yes, at your risk. It's now easy to make free international cell phone calls using wifi, which is plentiful in Europe, etc. Be very careful with your SIM card as international calls made can be unbelievably expensive. As a handy courtesy to students, we will also send push notifications of daily touring details.
Q: Is there wifi?
Most hotels have it...but we strongly encourage students to keep their use to a minimum...I mean..come on!
Q: Should we bring cash, traveller’s cheques, debit, or credit cards?
I think debit cards are the best; they’re very secure, but there could be service charges. Traveller’s cheques are passé. Contact your bank to make sure your card will work in Europe. We’ll give more details a few months prior to departure - and possibly arrange a group rate for currency exchange with a local vendor or bank.
Q: Can we use Band Parents’ Organization fundraising?
Yes – but only for the final payment next year. This allows the Band Parents to work together and provide fundraising opportunities up to “the last minute”. If a student raises more money than the final payment, we’ll cut you a cheque for the balance.
Q: Can the Tour be cancelled?
Yes.
a)The School Board can make the decision to cancel a field study trip for any purpose before or during the trip;
b) Should any situation arise that results in students or staff being excluded from a field study trip across an international border, including being denied entry to another country despite having appropriate documentation, the field trip will be cancelled and the group as a whole will return home and not proceed. Our school district is multicultural and inclusive and these essential principles of our school system are integrated into all of our policies, programs, operations, and practices, including field study trips.
Q: How do we sign up for the tour?
on February 7, 2019, all parents were emailed a courtesy reminder of the following steps:
Parents who have completed STEPS 1-4 (above) will be given links and documents to complete the STEPS 5-7 (below). We'll give you timely notice for each step:
OKM Senior Band International Tours "Frequently Asked Questions"
We understand that because our OKM Senior Band Europe tours are an extraordinary school activity, students and parents will need to have lots of information about safety, costs/benefits, budgets, group travel...before making an informed decision.
All Parents and Students must carefully read and understand this before signing the PARENT PERMISSION FORM, as these are the "Terms and Conditions" of the OKM Senior Band Europe Tour 2020. This ensures we have the best understanding and good communication. All of this FAQ information is vetted by SD23 - so the guidelines, policies, and terms and conditions of the tour are infused within the answers below. All of the information is believed to be accurate but is not guaranteed and should be independently verified if needed. Please contact Mr. Schnellert if you have questions or need further clarification.
Q: Why Croatia and Vienna for 2020?
When the OKM Senior Bands toured Croatia in 2014, we were incredibly impressed by the friendly people, arts, architecture, history, culture, climate, safety, the "un-crowdedness", and pricing - so we knew we had to come back and share this with more OKM music students!
In 2017, we asked our Music students to ask with their families if they had any personal connections in Europe in general, and Croatia specifically. We had some great early success: our Band Parents have have connected us with their personal family networks and connections in Croatia - bringing us potential musical partners within the wonderful communities - to host our students and share creating musical projects to celebrate and share rich learning about culture, history, and fellowship as we perform and tour. These kinds of connections help us learn and perform music with the people. The connections are what makes this tour a "once-in-a-lifetime" for most students.
We have also made some inroads with the Okanagan Croatian Club, in Kelowna, and musicians in Croatia We want to learn about the music which gives links to Croatian history and culture, so we can perform together and share "the universal language" of music. It's very affirming that by entering the process of learning music, travelling, and sharing, we learn that we have so much in common with people across the globe...it's optimistic, and incredible "21st Century Learning".
Update: We have added Italy to start the tour, and Vienna to conclude.
Q: What are the travel dates for Tour 2020?
- March 8-20, 2020. Our dates allow students to be back in Kelowna with a healthy amount of time to recover from jet lag.
Q: What is the itinerary for Europe 2020?
The itinerary is Italy, Croatia, and Vienna, subject to tweaking to meet budget and music project goals. Highlights include 4 exceptional concert opportunities including performing in Dubrovnik, Croatia, plus touring Rome and a taking in a concert in the Grand Hall in Vienna. We cannot post detailed itinerary/dates online - so only parents of traveling students will be provided with password protected access to the itinerary.
Q: What is the tour budget?
$4250
Q: What's included in the tour price?
All flights, 24/7 supervision, venue entrance fees, hotels/hostels accommodation, instrument transport/rentals, all breakfasts and dinners, Tour Jackets, and excellent travel insurance. All budgets, policies, and procedures must approved by the Board of Trustees, our OKM Principal and SD23 Senior Staff.
Q: Do you have a financial support plans for all students?
Absolutely. We want to include any student who wants to tour, so we engage our entire learning community through the Band Parents' Association who create fundraising opportunities for all students, as a team. Giving many years of notice to prepare, and planning well in advance, are the first steps in supporting students.
"Where there’s a will, there’s a way" - if students want to participate, Band Parents’ Association provides fundraising over 6 years. Our OKM Band Parents’ Organization has a solid history of providing the fundraising opportunities, and we are very grateful for all the parent volunteers, who work on behalf of the kids. Every band student (about 450), has a separate “account”, and is credited according to their sales/work. In every senior tour we’ve ever done, some students have paid off 100% of their trip through OKM fundraising - and they’ve learned about delaying gratification, and hard work, along the way. We encourage you to help by volunteering on the online Fundraising Parent Registration form. The OKM Band teachers are involved by forwarding invitations to the Europe Tour parents, and setting up connections between parents, for possible extra fundraisers for the Europe Tour. Our OKM Band Fundraising manager(s) will oversee and liaison between the partners.
Our District policy ensures all students have access to all educational programs, regardless of financial circumstances. The reason we do these tours is all about the learning through a musical project that enriches and elevates the music into cross-curricular learning for all students in the entire program - the pressures and excitement of this local OKM project elevates all if the learning. However, the actual travelling aspect is not needed to achieve these extraordinary learning outcomes. Our Regrowth Project of 2017 is a great example where ALL the students learned and contributed within the classroom and in Kelowna, but the extra-curricular travel was not required to achieve the educational outcomes of the groups' learning project.
Q: How much spending money is needed?
Students will need cash for most lunches, as finding good eats is a memorable, fun, and enriching part of travelling. Budget minded lunches are possible if students buy in grocery stores…but if you buy in restaurants, be careful - the tourist traps will be very expensive. Before travel, our Tour Company will suggest the rough amount needed for these lunches.
Q: What's the payment schedule for Europe Tour 2020?
To best prepare students and parents, we have given notice over several years, and especially at our Band Parent meeting on February, 2017, and updated in December, 2018, and on Feb 6, 2019, that the following payments will be required:
- FIRST PAYMENT: $500, March 1, 2019. We will send a link to Mariden's Interac online payment system.
- SECOND PAYMENT: $2500 due to Mariden on June 3, 2019.
- FINAL BALANCE: to total of $4250, Nov. 29, 2019.
- For the final invoice ONLY, each student will receive an invoice, showing their 1st and 2nd payments deposits, plus band fundraising account credits, and final balance owing.
- All payments are non-refundable.
- Band Parent Fundraising accounts can NOT be used for the 1st or 2nd payments, even if a student withdraws, as this causes unrecoverable financial hardships to the rest
Details from Mariden:
Late payment fee (applicable only for the payment after the deposit):
Please be informed that any payment received to our office after the date of payment, 5PM MT, is subject to $150 late payment fee per person. If Mariden office does not receive the payment 3 weeks after the payment deadline, traveller name will be deleted from travelers and insurance list. If final payment is not received 15 days after your payment deadline, Mariden will remove your name from the group list and cancel your flight reservation
They will use the email address - to send the e-transfer. We will receive an email saying that the particular person sent money to us. In the meantime, the parents/students will receive an email saying that the money that they sent to Mariden International has been accepted.
Mariden Payment Options-Interac payment: price as printed in the program (no merchant or processing fees) To send payment by Interac, please use this email address: [email protected] Important note when paying by Interac transfer: Please put these information in the message box: -Name of the student/traveller -Name of the school or organization (OKM) -
Individual cheque payment: add 2% processing fee
PAYPAL (VISA or MasterCard) payment: add 4.5% merchant fee on each instalment (i.e) on $500 payment your total will be $522.50
Q: Can any student participate?
As a condition of travel, all students must first be endorsed by the OKM School Based Team (SBT) for this extra-curricular tour. Parents of students who have needed behavioural and socio/emotional supports, interventions, and/or modified/adapted plans at OKM must consult with Mr. Schnellert or an OKM SBT member before registering their son/daughter(s), to ensure this tour will be a good fit for all participants.
The OKM music program has a deeply held core value that accepts all learners into our classroom and local community learning: we welcome all learners into our classes and courses, no matter their level of musicianship, or behavioural/learning capacities - we work to make sure all students have the potential for success and feeling like they matter as we learn together and play music together within our OKM community. We have gentle hearts for students who struggle with learning and/or behaviour, and for extending our support to the parents and families.
However, the extra-curricular OKM Senior Band Europe tour extends the learning and experience for the group well beyond the supports students would normally have in their homes, and/or at OKM. Therefore, everyone must carefully consider the readiness of all students to be sure this tour is a good fit.
The OKM music program has a deeply held core value that accepts all learners into our classroom and local community learning: we welcome all learners into our classes and courses, no matter their level of musicianship, or behavioural/learning capacities - we work to make sure all students have the potential for success and feeling like they matter as we learn together and play music together within our OKM community. We have gentle hearts for students who struggle with learning and/or behaviour, and for extending our support to the parents and families.
However, the extra-curricular OKM Senior Band Europe tour extends the learning and experience for the group well beyond the supports students would normally have in their homes. The learning and supports that are available to help students at OKM and/or the students' homes will not be available for 12 days of rigorous international travel. Therefore, everyone must carefully consider the readiness of all students to be sure this tour is a good fit.
As a condition of travel, all students must have the confidence and endorsement of the OKM School Based Team (which may be comprised of OKM Administrators, teachers, Counsellors, Certified Educational Assistants, Behavioural Specialists, and/or Academic Intervention staff) who will affirm that all students can manage the tour. Students who have demonstrated past behavioural challenges, such as "willful defiance", and/or other concerns as assessed by OKM SBT, may not qualify if their participation in the rigours of international group travel could elevate the risks to the safety and wellness of themselves and/or other participants.
As a condition of participation, all students are held to the same standards: they need to have demonstrated through all previous OKM classwork and personal/social interactions, that they are able to treat themselves and others with care and compassion, comply with all rules, and follow the directives given by teachers, administrators, and/or all OKM learning support staff, and reasonably manage the heightened and extended emotional and physical challenges.
This cannot be understated. All students must be able to perform with the highest discretion possible as "young adults". They must have earned the confidence of OKM staff, that they will be able to handle the potentially extreme rigours of the tour, including consistent age-appropriate self-regulating, healthy decision making, taking direction, and following very strict rules.
We know that it's sometimes the case for a student, that rather than "choosing" unsafe behaviours, they simply can't, at times, make the best decisions. For example, a student may be working through ongoing bouts of extreme anxiety or depression, which could manifest in behaviours where anger, defiance, and/or sabotage will flare up. Often, the triggers happen when an expectation isn't met. While at OKM, full support and "off-ramps" are readily available to give care and support - and we can quickly partner with parents - but that's not the case with international travel.
We (all parents of all participating students, and OKM and District staff) must carefully consider that this is an extraordinary, extra-curricular opportunity that puts students into 12 days of high stresses of international travel with a big group. A single poor behavioural decision by any student can cause the entire group to be put at risk of harm. When all parents sign the "Parent Permission" form, we list the "Inherent Risks of Participating", where we describe mostly the external risks, such as hotel stays, free time, airport/bus travel, pickpockets, etc. We point out that "...students who make poor choices may cause elevated risks to themselves and/or others".
Therefore, we have to find the best balance: where the OKM responsibility of reasonably attending to the exceptional needs of any individual can't cross the line of causing elevated risks to other students and/or tour participants. Therefore, if any student has a history of having shown willful defiance of OKM staff, or has not demonstrated the capacity to be self-regulating in complying or coping well within the reasonable day-to-day rules at OKM, then for their own good, and the safety of the group, and after giving all parents full opportunities to share their thoughts and ideas - some students may be ineligible.
As part of our usual and daily work at OKM, we rely on the advice that comes from our School Based Team (SBT), which may be comprised of highly qualified OKM Administrators, teachers, Counsellors, Certified Educational Assistants, and Academic Intervention staff. SBT usually partners with parents to help support students who have exceptional educational needs, to make things work well in the classroom for best personal/social learning. All decisions are made in a case-base-case manner, with consulting with parents.
As a condition of the tour, all parents must agree to accept the decision made by the OKM Principal, who will approve the list of students that SBT has assessed as being reasonably able to manage the rigours of this tour.
Q: We missed registration - can you accept latecomers?
We will do our best - but it depends on the timing - the later it is, the more difficulty we experience in booking flights, etc. If an enrolled student withdraws, the Travel Company might be able to arrange a transfer of the ticket.
Q. How is this related to learning music?
All of our music is connected to extended learning about ourselves, our teamwork, and our place in community. For our 2020 Tour, the learning themes will start around “Purpose, Belonging, and Gratitude”, and evolve as we partner and learn with students, the parents, and Croatian people. The starting musical learning theme was inspired by the choral piece "Prayer of the Children", by Kurt Bestor. This music was written to reveal the shared feelings of confusion and sadness felt by the children of Bosnian, Serbian, and Croatian ethnic backgrounds, living within the war-torn former Yugoslavia.
By engaging in this learning, our OKM Senior music students develop their perspectives through the Core Competencies, and especially around the “Personal & Social” learning, by discovering and considering the experiences of others - where the communities and cultures can be both the creators and destroyers of architectural, cultural, political and environmental realms. This allows our youth to better view the present with a deeper understanding and connection with the past, to find our place within this constant continuum of change - there is rich “Personal/Social” learning.
We are connecting with the Croatian Canadian club of Kelowna, and with Croatian people who are related to some of our Band students. Overall, we want to learn and think about how community values are created and reinforced, and how journeys of hardship, gratitude, and belonging serve to inform our identities as individuals, and as members of an ensemble - and a OKM student musicians learning and performing together is a perfect metaphor.
Q: What experience does the OKM Music Program have with Senior International Tours?
This OKM Music program's extra-curricular opportunity is built on an exceptionally experienced foundation, placing us among the top youth touring programs across Canada.
- Mr. Schnellert's 35+ years of international music touring experience was recently recognized by the international "Student and Youth Travel Association" in Teach and Travel Magazine.
- Together with Ms. Frederick and Mr. Bach, the OKM Music Program has toured thousands of music students to hundreds of venues in dozens of countries. We bring over 60 years of combined international touring experience and enthusiasm - and we want to share all of this with our current music students!
At OKM, every third year, since 1998, we’ve taken our Senior musicians to international stages on these optional and extra-curricular tours - in Japan, South Korea, Italy, Germany, Austria, France, the Netherlands/Holland, the Czech Republic, Britain, Wales, Croatia, Hungary, and the United States
One example of our experience with tour management and logistics: Our biggest tour involved 150 students and adults. It lasted 12 days, over 6 countries, with a budget approaching $500,000.00. We organized 4,200 meals. Our land travel required 3 double wide chartered busses with a gear trailer. We organized a “parallel tour” for parents (no longer an option...sorry). We coordinated 16 flights, and, of course, the instruments, including transport, rental pickups and drops, and borrowing...and concerts! It was both a monumental undertaking and an orchestrated success, with the returning students’ stories and memories serving as positive testimony to the value of the OKM Band tours and that our tour management strategies work for best safety and efficiency.
Everything we've learned, from all of these tours, we apply to our current management systems to current tours - today's students inherit this.
See our Past International Tours for details.
Q: How do you plan the itinerary?
All of the activities conducted at OKM music are designed to improve collaborative learning for all students from Grade 7-12. This optional tour is an extension of the ongoing musical learning with community outreach OKM, where we strive to connect our students with collaborative opportunities that can enrich development of all Core Competencies. This project creates student-centered deep learning where all students are exploring important content and developing Competencies.
Our framework always begins around the curriculum; we want students to experience meaningful learning, and the healthy pressure that leads to peak performance...for music to communicate meaningful sentiments with depth and resonance.
We reached out to all OKM Band Parents in 2017, asking for personal connections to help us set up shared performances with Croatian musicians, and/or for Croatian communities. When we find personal connections...it's gold...so these locales become the epicentre of the overall itinerary planning.
About 2 years out, we present a first draft itinerary, which always evolves and changes according to the gigs we find, the numbers of students who sign up, and budgets. That process takes hundreds of emails between our tour company, international partners, and SD23 administration...where our team balances dozens of factors. We always invite all students and parents to share their ideas and preferences. Having said that - the tour is subject to change at any time...sometimes during the actual tour. It's just the nature of travel, so with large groups, parents/students have to be okay with this, and "hold it lightly" if/when an unexpected change happens.
Q: Do you hire a professional tour company?
Yes. We hire a registered professional tour company. They will work with us to plan the itinerary, and provide local guides. We must have a tour company ready to support all students in case there are unexpected changes or emergencies during the tour.
We have several professional tour companies bid for every tour. They are selected based on the quality of their itinerary proposed, the musical connections and concerts they provide, and budget. For this tour, Mariden Tours is our partner and Travel Agent - we are excited that Mario Skrpec of Mariden has exceptional connections to wonderful concert opportunities in Croatia for our students, and an excellent travel itinerary.
Q: Where is the best information about this tour?
Always - it's on this OKM Music Website. Group text messages through the "Remind" service will also give quick updates and reminders to students and parents - this is a courtesy, as all participants are to keep up to date on their responsibilities via the website.
Q: Why can't we use Band Student fundraising accounts for all the payments?
We are proud that the OKM Music program is unique in the way we are financially supporting students: rather than putting all the fundraising money into one account, we maintain individual account balances for each of the 500+ OKM music students, so the students who do the work earn their own profits. This is a cornerstone to keeping the tour accessible to all students: if students are willing to work, and the OKM Band Parents continue to facilitate fundraising opportunities, any student can participate in this extra-curricular and optional tour,
However, this great policy to help students and parents comes at a great labour cost to our Band Parent volunteers, who are doing the bookkeeping and maintaining the ledger. Asking volunteers to reconcile the fundraisers into the student accounts, and generating 300 invoices...it's too much.
Q: Can Band Parent fundraising that happens after the tour be paid to students?
Yes - Band Parents can still do fundraising AFTER the tour, up to June 1, 2020, and we will write cheques to participating students.
Q: What is the planning schedule?
We give lots of advance notice to help guide students and parents to make a well informed decision before the first non-refundable payment happens:
- 2017: Call out to Band Students/Parents to connect us with personal contacts in Croatia, and/or Europe. Contact professional student travel tour companies to prepare bids. Connect with Band Parents for fundraising and Europe contacts.
- 2018: Present first draft itinerary and pricing. Fully inform all Grade 8-10 OKM Band/Choir students and parents. Launch fundraising over 3 years. Hire Tour company. Invite parent input to tweak itinerary.
- 2019, Spring: Registration opens around May, (Updated: Now March 1, in order to secure our flights, we had to roll this back a bit) and non-refundable first $500 payment. We will need to know how many students will tour, as we start booking flights - with students' names on the tickets.
- 2020, Fall: Rehearse music across the entire program, to benefit ALL students. Develop a musical theme, starting with "Purpose, Belonging, Gratitude". Partner with teachers and community to learn deeply about the history and culture of Croatia, and connect our music to our learning.
- Finalize itinerary and pricing. Prepare for travel.
- 2020, mostly during Spring Break: OKM Senior Music Europe Tour
Q: Is there travel insurance? Yes. The Manulife Global Youth/Student Deluxe Policy is included, and purchased for our group by the Tour Agent, Mariden Tours. Having excellent insurance is a mandatory inclusion (you must be a Canadian Citizen and hold a valid provincial health card to enjoy full coverage). Benefits include: cancellation and interruptions protection, unlimited emergency medical, subsistence allowance to pay for necessities during an extended stay, flight and travel accident protection and baggage and personal effects due to loss or delay. "...if the school board determines there is a risk of harm to you during your school trip because of an identified threat arising from an event that occurred within 90 days of your scheduled departure date. In addition, the school trip, or a portion of the school trip, included a visit or a stay in the area or vicinity where the event occurred."
Please note that medical coverage may be limited if you have a pre-existing condition or a change in your health status between now and the tour dates and the Tour Company must be advised.
- We recommend extra insurance for students with increased health risks.
Q: Are all students from other countries covered by the Manulife policy?
If a student is a Canadian Resident who has Canadian Government Health Insurance (GHIP), then they are entitled to be covered under the Youth policy.
If they are not a Canadian Resident and do not have GHIP they cannot be insured under this coverage. They would not be entitled to Medical and not package coverage of any kind.
Q: Why do you do these big tours?
They help to significantly enhance the music in the classroom for every student, including those who don’t travel with us, as commensurate with the higher stakes, there comes a stronger focus and work ethic in our year’s rehearsals. The extraordinary effort, challenge, and outcomes are healthy for our students and music program, as it engages our learning community, and proves that what we are doing in the class has significance. For all of OKM, our tours help create a culture of excellence and school spirit, which can transfer to academic achievement, as students have something great to look forward to in their high school. Students mature greatly during these tours. Socially, being in Europe for almost 2 weeks is a great equalizer, as students must rely on one another for support, and they realize that the social constructs that rule at high school can be artificial, as the cliques often dissolve during the tour, as the students get to know each other in a new light. The students and teachers need to trust each other to “deliver the goods” – it proves our commitment by extending the classroom far beyond OKM’s halls.
Q: If a student decides to not go on the trip, should they drop Senior Band?
No! Non-participating students always benefit, as our rehearsals will have a very strong boost as we all learn the music together with a heightened focus on excellence. The tour is mostly during the first week of Spring Break. There will be minimal discussion of the tour during regular Band classes.
Q: What do past students say were their favourite parts of the tours?
Some might predict it’s the iconic landmarks we’ve visited - like when we cruised down the Seine River before ascending to the top of the Eiffel Tower to view the midnight lights in Paris…or entered the Colosseum in Rome; we’ve walked over the Charles Bridge in Prague; looked up to Michaelangelo’s work in the Sistine Chapel, listened to Verdi in the Vienna Opera House, and entered many grand palaces, castles, and places of worship in Tokyo, Seoul, Florence, and Versailles, etc. These destinations have brought some of the best memories for students, as they are steeped with incredible history, art, architecture, spirituality, and music.
However, our students consistently say the concerts, music, and the people are the best parts.
Q: Safety - How do the teachers manage so many teenagers safely during the tour?
Traveling with safety includes the "well-being" of everybody. It's common for students to feel excited, nervous, anxious, overwhelmed, and/or overjoyed..at any given time of the tour, or even during the lead-up.
The OKM Music Program has conducted hundreds of highly successful tours, with countless students. We rely on lots of planning, organizational systems, and strong teamwork with highly qualified teachers. Most importantly, we expect our great OKM students will “buy in” to our values. In having conducted hundreds of multi-day student travel tours, we’ve learned some “tried and true” strategies to provide the best possible potential for safety and efficiency:
Evening Hotel Room Checks:
For the wellness of the team: we check in regularly, both as a team, and as individuals. Every evening, a teacher will do hotel room checks before sleep time. We check in the students in each room, and ask the students if they are well - physically and emotionally. We have fun chats about how the day's events went, and what's ahead. We tell them what they need to do to prepare for the next day's activities. We communicate with Google Docs the itinerary and timing stuff. We remind students of our very strict safety rules: They cannot leave the room for any reason other than a fire alarm, until the designated morning time. For any evening emergency, they must phone the front desk, where they are best assured to have immediate attention. Hotel staff will contact teachers to attend to any emergency.
Healthy Social/Personal:
We are taking our students out of their comfort zones and their home routines, and into places that have different cultures, food, and landscapes. This moves us into places of deeper learning: about personal resilience, patience, empathy, and the good feeling of contributing to the team through music. Growth often happens best when we move out of the comfort zones! With music as the metaphor - as every musician matters - that's how we want our students to feel about supporting each other.
Students must tell teachers if they personally are not feeling well, and/or if they notice another student might need some support.
Systems:
Our favourite word is "systems" - we have lots of highly effective systems for planning, supervising, and running the tour, which have been informed by over 35 years of touring experience.
Fast and accurate headcounts are done with our trained systems - we can get an accurate count of 120+ students within 30 seconds. This is best for touring efficiency, and ensuring all students are always accounted for.
Passports/Documents: The teachers only allow students to hold their own travel documents during border crossings. At all other times, we take them for safe-keeping.
We strive for good positive and proactive communication, sensible delegation, repetition of our routines, and ensuring everybody knows their valued roles. We plan according to our predictions of the mood of the group during the day, and at different stages of the tour - we pace the itinerary to address the needs of the students, with time for healthy socializing, exercise, nutrition, rest, etc. Everybody needs a bit of “away time” to recharge from the busy and intense times – we give some “buddy system” supervised free time, where most days, students have a bit of time to buy lunch and/or shop in small groups (see the Permission Form for details). For everything that’s a “pain”, there’s always something we’ve planned just ahead that’s a “gain” – to keep our positive motivation and focus, and avoid the “cranky pants”. For example, here’s a conversation I had in Paris in 2005:
Students: “Mr. Schnellert – it’s raining! That sucks!”
My Reply: “How wonderful! We’re getting rained on in PARIS!!”
Oddly enough, the long bus rides are usually another one of the favourite parts of the trip for the students…that’s where most of those great quirky and corny “road trip” inside jokes are hatched…
Q: What kind of performances do you do?
Our bands tend to be quite large, with unpredictable blends of instruments, across a wide range of playing abilities between the 10-12’s. This lends itself towards more informal, “friendly” venues. We prefer to perform with other musicians in a manner that is like a community gathering, rather than at formal competitions or festivals, or concerts. It’s a challenge to find venues and hosts that can accommodate our large bands, and whose performance expectations match ours – but we’ve always delivered.
Our best gigs are when we perform together with youth from other cultures - that's an ambitious, challenging, and worthy goal!
Q: Where do you play?
It’s all about finding the best gigs first - and these always come from personal connections and networking, where Band Parents put us in touch with musicians and groups from their family's hometowns. These places form the hub for all the rest of the itinerary planning.
Often, the logistics and red tape in organizing performances in the big “touristy” places are prohibitive - and, there’s not much novelty for Parisians, Venetians, or Salzburgers to meet more tourists - so instead, in the past, we’ve found great success connecting with musicians “off the beaten path”, in communities like Grossblittersdorf, Hanau, Ellewangen, Eusebois, and Thum – places you’ve likely never heard of. Yet, for some of our OKM Band alumni, a mention of these cities will bring back great memories of performing “Ross Roy” in joint concerts and massed bands; or “Steigermarsch” while a thousand audience sang along, or the “Regrowth” concert - 100 OKM students performed together in a massed orchestra with 50 French and 50 German musicians; we played to glowing reviews in 9 European newspapers.
In 2017, we two of our OKM Senior Band student played our Regrowth music with their cousins in Holland, after having connected us with a wonderful group of musicians in the Netherlands.
People familiar with Europe might think “…why are they going there…? Just down the road it’s much nicer”. Our venues have ranged from schools, to public squares, to concert halls. Throughout the 3 year process, our Tour Company will work with OKM teachers and Band Parents to source our venues, and confirmation and commitments we make are subject to the results of this registration.
Q: How do you connect with the other cultures?
Before and after our concerts, we often rehearse and socialize with our hosts. We’ve had pot-luck dinners with impromptu concerts in the basement of a thousand year old church; disco-dancing lessons in Frankfurt, and tea ceremonies in Tokyo. We’ve reciprocated, and hosted youth from Japan and Germany in Kelowna; taking them to the Kettle Valley trestles, and to 108 mile for a Western barbeque, and a Rockets game, was a blast. These cultural exchanges, all brought through the context of our music, can be extraordinary. Many past students have kept up their connections with the students they met on our tours.
Q: What do students learn about travel?
While they are on tour with us, we take care of all of the air, land, transfers, and accommodations. We take care of their passports, luggage, and travel documents. They get familiar with travel routines, like how to pack, travel light, and experience European hotels, hostels, and shopping, and this builds their confidence for independence after they graduate and leave “the nest”. They are given age-appropriate freedom with strict limits and boundaries in “buddy systems” - to find a bite to eat, or do a bit of shopping each day.
Q: What are the accommodations?
For the best budget and experience, students are together in rooms often in groups of 4, but it can range from 2 to 10 students (rare) per room. Safety is #1 priority, so the hotels must be in safe areas. Our itinerary is packed, so students are usually very tired and want us to hurry up with our room checks - and they can sleep well. We try to put students into groups of their friends, and we work with them to make sure they’re as comfortable as possible, but they can learn to grin if it’s not ideal. Students must use the “buddy system” at all times in hotels/hostels.
Q: What was the process to create this tour?
It’s within our “6 year plan”, where tours are reasonably paced from Grade 8-12.
Our typical 3 year planning cycle for the Senior Tours is:
In Year One the tour must be approved in principle at the General Meeting for Band Parents. The OKM administration and SD23 Trustees must be informed and give tentative approve in principle. A professional tour company is hired (several companies will quote).
Early in Year 2 , we host a Launch Meeting in the Multi-Purpose room. Students and parents can sign up online between March and April, of Year 2. This gives families lots of time to make a strong and informed decision.
In Year 3, we work through the fall and winter to prepare our bands for performances, and the students and parents for the travel.
Q: Who is planning this, and what are their roles?
- Mr. Schnellert is the Tour Manager, and co-plans, teams and consults with Ms. Frederick and Mr. Bach.
- Mr. Schnellert, Ms. Frederick and Mr. Bach are the Music Directors.
- Mario Skrpec, of Mariden Tours, is our Travel Agent. Parents will be under contract with Mariden
- Mr. Bruce McKay (OKM Principal), is our administrator and liaison with SD23 Trustees and Senior Staff to ensure all protocols are solid.
- The OKM Band Parent’s Association provides fundraising opportunities.
- The SD23 School Board Trustees will review our plans – all travel is subject to their approval.
Q: Who chaperones the tour?
The chaperone team is selected to give students the best “by the book” supervision and guiding - for bringing the highest standards in safety, training and experience, creating positive tour temperaments, planning with effective and accurate management, and the delivery of ongoing powerful educational lessons and units (both pre and post tour). These are all crucial cornerstones, as nothing can be left to chance.
Thus, we will rely on OKM teachers and/or administrators and our professional tour managers to be the chaperones, as they can best deliver all of these outcomes for this tour. Depending on the final numbers, it's about 4 OKM staff. From past experience, this is also the best for the culture of the student group. The chaperone team also works at OKM, during rehearsals, to actively train students to be prepared for load-in, load-out, gear and hotel transfers, safety procedures.
Q: Why can't a parents chaperone these tours? What are the costs?
For best safety, nothing is left to chance. Within the role of "tour chaperone", there are significant differences between "leading" and "guiding":
- Leading is taking on the 24/7 personal and professional responsibility to ensure the health, safety, wellness, education, and positive temperament of students and the entire learning community is maintained throughout the tour. This requires highly effective and responsible adults who have the proven ability to give pro-active, sensitive, respectful and positive outcomes by working well in partnership with teenagers during all aspects of the tour, including behavioural/cultural realms, dealing with emergencies, and leading by example.
- Where does the leadership come from? It's an ongoing partnership between students and OKM staff. It develops well before the tour with collaborative work across OKM classes. The leadership is in ongoing collaboration and trust-building with students, parents, and the entire OKM learning community. This sustains everyone during travel. This leadership continues well after the tour. Leadership means instead of adults enforcing "the rules" against students, our positive manners are embedded in a shared culture. In a nutshell: in leadership, there is a strong positive incentive to behave. Having said that, we also have strict rules...
- Guiding is where strong "organizational skills" are required. During the tour, guiding runs parallel to supervision: the work to manage the paperwork, data, routines, schedules, attendance, luggage, meals, passports, communication, hotel room allocations, etc.
With OKM staff as chaperones, the entire tour benefits from 60+ years of experience in BOTH leadership and guiding, whereas from past experience, while most parents have excellent skills in "guiding", their capacity to "lead" is very limited because they are not interacting and building positive team relationships with our OKM students on a regular basis.
Parents are invited to make their own travel arrangements and join us for our public concerts, but not for our travel, accommodations, or our student group touring. The Travel Company might assist in your planning, but not at added expense to the OKM tour.
In terms of our cultural goals and student perspectives: the group dynamics of having parents joining our band tours would be similar to those we'd encounter if parents asked to sit on the bench during a volleyball game in a tournament, or sit in our OKM classes during rehearsals...that would detract from the students learning as a team where they interact and rely on one other and their coaches.
In terms of student learning, we must all support these healthy boundaries. We have a "team bonding" experience as musicians...this tour gives incredible opportunities towards positive personal growth and the building of resilience - as these "young adults" learn to rely on themselves and their peers/team to thrive during all of the ups and downs, and social interactions that are intensified during the tours.
From past experience, if parents accompany a senior tour of Grade 10-12 students, it impacts our goals towards developing healthy team interdependence, and development of independence and resilience. All costs for guiding, management, supervision, and leadership are included in the tour - this 24/7 caregiving for students usually costs around 1.5 - 2% of the budget.
Q: What are the legalities, liabilities, and risks?
The inherent risks of participation will be listed on the “Parent Permission” Form - they will have been vetted by SD23 Senior Administration. There will also be a “Tour Company Contract". Parents must review all aspects of the tour and understand the risks before giving permission. Financially, we will be under contract with the Tour Company, and there are no funds from SD23.
Q: What safety measures do you have in place?
Safety is the highest priority of School District No.23. A team of experienced OKM teachers is supervising, along with the Tour Company Managers, and local guides. We strictly enforce our rules; our management culture is to “run a tight ship” . We hold all passports and tickets on behalf of the students. All students will have “emergency cards”, giving them 24/7 emergency cell phone access to teachers/guides. Night accommodation is in hotels with private rooms.
Every night, the teachers check every student, in every room to see if everybody’s okay, and we explain the routines for the next day, with reminders about the rules. Because wifi access is easily available in hotels and most public areas, we give students push notifications of each days' schedule, in real time.
During day tours, we divide students into smaller alphabetic groups for accurate headcounts. We can line up and count 100 students, alphabetically, in 30 seconds. When we give students bits of free time to buy lunch in safe areas in mid day, or do some shopping, we choose very public areas, like “town squares”, according to the advice of our local tour guides, and we have regular check-in times.
The risks are significantly amplified if students break our very strict rules, or make poor choices. We can contact emergency services 24/7, and we do not hesitate to contact parents at any time. Ultimately, the decisions made by the students are the cornerstone of their own personal safety.
For example, it is age-appropriate and common for our Grade 10-12 students to shop at Orchard Park Mall without the direct supervision of their parent/guardian. Those risks are minimal, but if the student decides to break rules and take risks, their safety is compromised.
Q: What is the emergency communication plan between the tour and parents?
- The name and contact number you give during registration will be available to all chaperones at all times during the tour.
- For any medical emergency, chaperones are to immediately contact parents, and OKM administration.
- For group emergencies, an OKM administrator will be the liaison to communicate with all parents, while touring chaperones work with local supports.
- The Remind communication system, and/or emails, may be used to update parents.
- Parents are strictly forbidden to call the OKM Emergency Touring cell phone. Instead, they must contact the OKM administration to be authorized.
Q: What if a student has a special diet?
Make sure to give details on all forms, as all dietary requests, allergies, etc, will be accommodated to the best of our abilities, with a shared onus between the students, parents, and organizers for safety. We will forward that data (confidential), to the Tour Company, who will forward to all of our planned meals (breakfasts/dinners). Parents are encouraged to support our message to students - although they can be assured that we have contacted the restaurants, the student with a special diet must also communicate effectively to inform the servers when the food happens to ensure accuracy. Often, while we are settling 100 students, the proprietors are already serving before we arrive.
To overcome language barriers, we gave special diet students a paper notice for them to put on their plates in the restaurant while we told the managers to look out for these.
Q: If somebody gets sick, can you give medicine?
Teachers have no authority to administer medications. Students can bring their own parent approved personal “over-the-counter” meds, or prescriptions, but they have to be listed on the “ONLINE REGISTRATION" data.
Q: What about medical conditions that might make travel difficult for students?
We value making our tours as accessible as possible. All students must be able to handle the rigours and stresses associated with international travel. Contact Mr. Schnellert to discuss options to support you.
Q: How will this tour affect academic classes?
Students will miss a few of their classes. They are fully expected to fulfil all academic requirements. Some teachers may require work be done before the tour, or that students catch up afterwards. In all cases, students must collaborate with all of their teachers in a timely manner to make sure all responsibilities are met. Students are invited to bring study materials on tour. Research shows that academic achievement is often improved if students are deeply engaged in such band projects and learning music. We will invite participating chaperone teachers to organize tutorials to further support students...if things line up.
Q: Can I make plans to extend the tour for my son/daughter - perhaps meet them in Europe at the end of the tour and stay longer?
Sorry - this is strictly not possible. The SD23 policy is that if you depart with us, you come home with us. We did allow deviations on past tours, but we now regard this as too risky for the group, and individuals. We simply cannot predict everything that could go wrong, resulting in the parent not connecting with their son/daughter.
For example, we had a scenario where a parent was to pick up their OKM senior band student before our return flight. The plan was to have the parent in our departing town several days before departure, to ensure a good transition. However, this parent’s passport and wallet were stolen while they were alone in Greece, so they were stranded, and could not meets us...their child did not have a return flight ticket with OKM. Our OKM/Travel Agent team had to scramble to make remedies. The fallout took several teachers away from attending to the rest of the students on the tour. This is one example of many that have happened over the years, that have informed us when making this policy.
We are fine with parents picking up their son/daughter in Vancouver when we land - subject to having a plan in writing, approved by the Principal. However, the parent cannot take the student until after we have done the normal headcount on our tour bus.
Sorry, but it is extremely hectic for the OKM teachers to manage large groups of students who must clear customs, move luggage, inventory instruments, and maintain our headcounts through all the checkpoints, all within busy and noisy airports. We've had past experience where 6 families have wanted to take their students away in Vancouver, and they were pulling students out of our systems during this hectic process..and we had to interrupt our group management systems with too many variables...we cannot afford to lose track of our headcounts at any time. It's fine to meet us outside of the airport in the bus parking area.
Q: I saw an ad for a cheap flight to Europe – why can’t we get those prices?
It’s “apples and oranges". Group tours must book in advance - Airline luggage charges for large amounts of instruments are very expensive. We charter coaches and hire drivers to accompany for 24/7 during tour. We must rent drums, PA systems, etc...costly...
Q: Do students need custom tour jackets included in the tour?
Yes. They help to our sense of “team”; we look and feel more professional, they serve to quickly dress up all students for more formal occasions, and they are decent for the weather. On the front is our OKM Europe logo; on the back is a Canadian maple leaf.
Q: What should I pack?
We will give you an online check-list of what you need, including performance clothes, so you don’t over-pack. ALL students MUST pack a MEDIUM checked-bag under 50 pounds. Lugging massive suitcases up and down narrow European stone stairways “gets old...real quick…”.
Q: What should I pack?
A few weeks before travel, we will host a final prep evening event, where we will perform music, and practice lining up, moving gear and luggage. At that time, students will bring their intended suitcases.
Q: What if we sign up, but have to withdraw - can we expect a refund?
Sorry - no, but there are a few exceptions, as per the conditions of the travel insurance policy.
Q: Why no refunds?
...because the money will have been spent for airline tickets, etc, and withdrawals cause substantial difficulties on the entire group of students and the management teams.
The entire tour is non-refundable to help students and parents be sure they can make the solid commitments we need from everyone. Because this is an extra-curricular and optional tour, there are zero funds available from OKM or the School District to cover any liabilities...and unexpected withdrawals are always a financial liability.
When you make your commitment to tour and make your first payment during registration, the tour company will immediately reserve your flight tickets, venues, and work to accommodate you into the tour, and the budget. Most booking items from vendors require non-refundable deposits.
If a person withdraws, it triggers a very complicated domino-effect: Everything has to be re-booked and recalculated across the entire tour: all hotels, meals, venues, tickets, so the cost ratios change, putting upwards pressure on the budget (fewer students to share bussing costs, etc). We have to burden our hosts by asking them to update their records. The concert set ups of assigned seating, the instrument lists with serial numbers, student chaperone groups, District lists...all have to be contacted and/or redone.
In a nutshell - withdrawals force us to re-book the entire tour. That costs the Tour Company and OKM staff valuable and expensive time. It also puts upwards pressure on the budgets: the other students will not be “on the hook” to pay for these liabilities.
Past experience compels us to be very clear: students and parents cannot expect refunds. Having said that, OKM staff will always do our best to advocate for our students, and work hard to find creative solutions on a "case-by-case" basis. HOWEVER, our OKM courtesies should not be construed as an entitlement, precedence, or a softening of the "No Refunds" policy.
Q: Should I take my cell phone?
Yes, at your risk. It's now easy to make free international cell phone calls using wifi, which is plentiful in Europe, etc. Be very careful with your SIM card as international calls made can be unbelievably expensive. As a handy courtesy to students, we will also send push notifications of daily touring details.
Q: Is there wifi?
Most hotels have it...but we strongly encourage students to keep their use to a minimum...I mean..come on!
Q: Should we bring cash, traveller’s cheques, debit, or credit cards?
I think debit cards are the best; they’re very secure, but there could be service charges. Traveller’s cheques are passé. Contact your bank to make sure your card will work in Europe. We’ll give more details a few months prior to departure - and possibly arrange a group rate for currency exchange with a local vendor or bank.
Q: Can we use Band Parents’ Organization fundraising?
Yes – but only for the final payment next year. This allows the Band Parents to work together and provide fundraising opportunities up to “the last minute”. If a student raises more money than the final payment, we’ll cut you a cheque for the balance.
Q: Can the Tour be cancelled?
Yes.
a)The School Board can make the decision to cancel a field study trip for any purpose before or during the trip;
b) Should any situation arise that results in students or staff being excluded from a field study trip across an international border, including being denied entry to another country despite having appropriate documentation, the field trip will be cancelled and the group as a whole will return home and not proceed. Our school district is multicultural and inclusive and these essential principles of our school system are integrated into all of our policies, programs, operations, and practices, including field study trips.
Q: How do we sign up for the tour?
on February 7, 2019, all parents were emailed a courtesy reminder of the following steps:
- STEP 1: Carefully read the above "Senior Tour Frequently Asked Questions", Reading and agreeing to this FAQ document is a condition that must be completed before any of the next steps can happen:
- STEP 2: Sign Up for the Tour as soon as you're "practically certain" your son/daughter(s) will participate - this gives us an accurate number of participants for reserving our flights. DUE BY FEB. 28.
- STEP 3: Complete the "Parent One Thing Volunteer" form to help support all students with team fundraising.
- STEP 4: Sign up for the REMIND communication system. Note: this might be clunky because Remind changed some things....you might have to download the app. We'll figure this out with our students in class, so don't worry too much about this.
Parents who have completed STEPS 1-4 (above) will be given links and documents to complete the STEPS 5-7 (below). We'll give you timely notice for each step:
- STEP 5: Parent Permission Form: Hard copies will be given in class and posted online
- STEP 6: Payment: March 1: First Non-Refundable $500 online payment to Mariden Tours..
- STEP 7: OKM Band Tour Online Full Registration. Shortly after March 1, we'll give you a link to complete the detailed OKM online registration form...stay tuned.