When Modern World History teacher Dave D. started to enroll students on his first EF tour, WWII and the Western Front, he made some history himself—45 students signed up in less than 20 hours. “When you’re in the classroom, there’s only so much that students can get out of watching a video, having a teacher explain it, or reading about it in a book,” says Dave. “I thought, ‘Here’s an opportunity to take everything that they’ve learned and actually take them there.’”

During the tour, Dave showed his students that history is more than just a school subject—it’s a living, breathing thing that evolves over time. With the help of his Tour Director, he was able to add a tour stop that hit close to home. The students had learned about the Malmedy massacre, an ambush by the Nazis on American soldiers during Belgium’s Battle of the Bulge, from a survivor that often came to speak at the school’s Veteran’s Day assembly. Dave and his students took a side trip to the city of Malmedy, and visited the memorial. “That was so beyond powerful to our students and to our community,” he says. “I’m getting chills now just thinking about it.”

This tour deals with some difficult subject matter, so Dave made sure to build in plenty of time for reflection throughout the tour. Students would silently journal on the bus after visiting solemn sites, and then split up into smaller groups during dinner to process and discuss the day’s activities. “There was a maturity level that grew in the students, and there was a level of comprehension about the world that you saw grow in them, too,” he says.