Ideas for planning educational travel StudentGROUP TOUR ADRENALINE ADVENTURES Dare to experience wild thrills, from serene to extreme Quad Cities, Illinois/Iowa Providence, Rhode Island Niagara Falls, New York Huntsville, Alabama Santa Clara, California , Québec SPRING 2018 Laval GroupTour.com Kamakura, Japan THE ONLY MUSEUM of the U.S. CONSTITUTION Independence Mall Ì Philadelphia, PA BOOK YOUR GROUP EXPERIENCE TODAY! Independence Hall Contact Gina RomanelliIndependence at [email protected] Mall Ì Philadelphia, PA or 215.409.6695 More Than A Trip, It's a Transformation YOU DON’T KNOW THE HALF OF IT History comes alive for students when they not only visit, but experience the BOOK YOUR rich heritage of Philadelphia. Visitors can VISIT TODAY! Shockingly see, touch, hear, and walk the places [email protected] that were home to the founders of our awesome nation, like Elfreth's Alley, the oldest viewS! AMREVMUSEUM.ORG continously occupied residential street Open Daily: Morning, Noon & Night PhillyFromTheTop.com 3RD & CHESTNUT STREETS in the United States. For more information or to Book your school group: PHILADELPHIA Contact Diane Meglino at [email protected] or 215-845-4160. For Customized Itinerary Planning, contact: Jim DePhilippo at 215-636-3312 or [email protected] Explore the possibilities at discoverPHL.com Visit grouptour.com/student-group-tour/previous-issues/ for more info about student-friendly destinations and businesses. THE ONLY MUSEUM of the U.S. CONSTITUTION Independence Mall Ì Philadelphia, PA BOOK YOUR GROUP EXPERIENCE TODAY! Independence Hall Contact Gina RomanelliIndependence at [email protected] Mall Ì Philadelphia, PA or 215.409.6695 More Than A Trip, It's a Transformation YOU DON’T KNOW THE HALF OF IT History comes alive for students when they not only visit, but experience the BOOK YOUR rich heritage of Philadelphia. Visitors can VISIT TODAY! Shockingly see, touch, hear, and walk the places [email protected] that were home to the founders of our awesome nation, like Elfreth's Alley, the oldest viewS! AMREVMUSEUM.ORG continously occupied residential street Open Daily: Morning, Noon & Night PhillyFromTheTop.com 3RD & CHESTNUT STREETS in the United States. For more information or to Book your school group: PHILADELPHIA Contact Diane Meglino at [email protected] or 215-845-4160. For Customized Itinerary Planning, contact: Jim DePhilippo at 215-636-3312 or [email protected] Explore the possibilities at discoverPHL.com Visit grouptour.com/student-group-tour/previous-issues/ for more info about student-friendly destinations and businesses. Group Tour / STUDENT What’s inside Spring 2018 • Vol. 14 / No. 1 Departments Charged News& Lounge News& 6 7 8 Notes 74 Notes Features 12 70 Adrenaline Kon’nichiwa adventures: Kamakura: Dare to experience wild Spend an afternoon with thrills, from serene to the Great Buddha extreme GREAT LAKES REGION 16 5 Stops: Quad Cities 22 Jackson Candy & Fudge Factory, 18 Itinerary: Cleveland, Ohio Michigan 19 Center of Science and Industry (COSI), 23 Silver Beach Carousel, Michigan Ohio 20 Mill City Museum, Minnesota 21 Beaver Creek Reserve, Wisconsin 16 NEW ENGLAND REGION 24 5 Stops: Providence, Rhode Island 28 Yale Peabody Museum of Natural 26 Itinerary: New Hampshire’s northern History, Connecticut region 29 Biomes Marine Biology Center, 27 Museum of Science, Massachusetts Rhode Island 24 On the cover: ArborTrek Canopy Adventures, Stowe, Vt. Photo: ArborTrek Canopy Adventures 4 Spring 2018 • GroupTour.com MID-ATLANTIC REGION 30 5 Stops: Niagara Falls, New York 41 One Liberty Observation Deck, 32 Itinerary: Roanoke Valley, Virginia Pennsylvania 34 Carnegie Museum of Natural History, 42 Group Sales Box Office Pennsylvania at Broadway.com 35 Edgar Allan Poe Museum, Virginia 43 One Location Tours, 36 Erie Maritime Museum, Pennsylvania New York/Massachusetts 38 Museum of the Bible, Washington, D.C. 30 40 Modern Pinball NYC, New York SOUTHEASTERN REGION 44 5 Stops: Huntsville, Alabama 51 Riverbanks Zoo & Garden, 46 Itinerary: Atlanta, Georgia South Carolina 47 Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory, 52 Alcatraz East Crime Museum, Tennessee Kentucky 54 Vicksburg National Military Park, 48 The Dali Museum, Florida Mississippi 50 Whitney Plantation, Louisiana 44 WESTERN REGION 56 5 Stops: Santa Clara, California 60 National Cowboy & Western Heritage 58 Itinerary: Boise, Idaho Museum, Oklahoma 59 Safari West, California 61 Pacific Science Center, Washington 56 CANADA REGION 62 5 Stops: Laval, Québec 68 Copper Art Studio & Museum 64 Itinerary: Montreal, Québec Albert Gilles, Québec 65 Carleton University, Ontario 69 Skylon Tower, Ontario 66 Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre, Ontario 75 Advertiser Index 62 Apr • May • Jun • Jul 5 800-767-3489 fax: 616-393-0085 GroupTour.com Publisher Action-packed Elly DeVries I President Editorial education Mary Lu Laffey I Editor David Hoekman I Managing Editor Each year on this date, my hometown newspaper prints Courtney Birchmeier I Web Editor an April Fool’s Day photo on page one. The editor still calls it Cortney Erndt I Associate Editor Kelsey Smith I Associate Editor “lirpa-loof.” By spelling the words backwards and dissecting via Steph Lulofs I Associate Editor syllables, he tries to fool some of the people some of the time. EDITOR’S Art And, for a nanosecond each year, he does. LETTER Fast forward to today; it’s April 1 all over again, but we don’t Mark Dryer I Art Director Gabrielle Aleman-Gordon I Graphic Designer have any lirpa-loof surprises inside. Just lots of terrific news for student groups. Audience Development I hope you like our new approach to itineraries — we call Cindy Fish I Audience Development Director them Itinerary Planners. Each is packed with suggestions to help Bethany Vander Kolk I Circulation Coordinator you flesh out your favorite stops or to find new ones. Marketing Associate editor Cortney Erndt’s cover story about adrenaline Ben DeVries I Marketing Director adventures includes high-energy stops fueled by learning com- Brittni Miller I Graphic Designer ponents; see page 12. She also spoke with Dave Martinson at Administration PhotoVision about his company’s Group Travel Videos app that Jim Bowser I Webmaster helps reinforce the educational purposes of travel; see page 7. In Advertising The Lounge, Riley Banks-Snyder, founder of Generation Next, shares her philanthropic experiences. See page 74. Eric C. Lutey I Director of Sales 800-767-3489 x111 [email protected] I invite you to check out our 5 Stops selections. We touched AB, BC, MB, NB, NL, NS, PE, QC, SK, YT, base on Niagara Falls, New York; the Midwest’s Quad Cities; AK, ID, KS, MT, ND, NE, WY Providence, Rhode Island; Huntsville, Alabama; and Laval, On- Allison Howard I Sales Assistant tario, Canada. Take off for Tokyo and beyond to the suburb of 800-767-3489 x110 I [email protected] Kamakura for a visit with the Giant Buddha. Jim Holthaus I [email protected] 616-283-1816 I IA, IN, MN, MI, WI, OH, TN, ON Greg Jones I [email protected] P.S. Remember to join us on Aug. 1 to splash right into the 859-327-6417 I DC, DE, MD, NJ, NY, PA, CT, MA, ME, NH, RI, VT world of aquariums. Until then, for a daily dose of student travel ideas, please visit studentgrouptour.com. Alan Lininger I [email protected] 717-778-8056 I IL, NC, SC, VA, WV, KY, MO, TX, SD Marlene Smith I [email protected] 231-499-1408 I AR, AL, FL, GA, LA, MS, CO, OK Tom Ward I [email protected] 530-621-1235 I AZ, CA, HI, NM, NV, UT, OR, WA Mary Lu Laffey [email protected] @MaryLuGroupTour Group Tour Media is a proud member of the American Bus Association • California Travel Association • Circle Michigan • Destinations International • Florida Attractions Association • Louisiana Travel Promotions Association • National Tour Association • New Mexico Hospital- ity Association • Ohio Travel Association • Ontario Motor Coach Association • Southeast Tourism Society • Student & Youth Travel Association • Virginia Motorcoach Association 6 Spring 2018 • GroupTour.com Charged Make memories last for generations By Cortney Erndt PHOTO: GROUP TRAVEL VIDEOS TRAVEL GROUP PHOTO: Student takes photo, Washington, D.C. With a passion to teach youth the with titles, special effects and music. send messages to the entire group at value of memories, Group Travel Vid- Performance groups frequently provide once or to individual travelers, elimi- eos creates storytelling keepsake videos their own music to add to the video. nating the need for educators to give made from pictures taken by travelers The video becomes available to view out their personal phone numbers. during student trips. on students’ devices with the app, and Documents like itineraries, pas- “Educators love the way it reinforces each student is provided with a DVD senger lists, trip highlights and other the educational purpose of the trip,” keepsake. documents can be made available for all said Dave Martinson, founder and “Students get to relive their experi- travelers through the app. president of PhotoVision, Inc. “Stu- ence with the video we create and the Martinson said group leaders often dents can relive their experience for a shared photos,” Martinson said. “Both use last year’s video during recruit- lifetime, and parents can see how their can easily be shared on Facebook, Twit- ment meetings, and music directors use child benefited from their investments.” ter and Instagram, and emailed directly the video as a tool to help recruit new The free Group Travel Videos app is with the app.” students into their programs. available on Apple and Android devic- The new mapping, messaging and “Prospects will see people they es. Each group has a unique username document feature provides a great know, which creates an emotional ap- and password that all members share. convenience for travelers, plus a new peal that cannot be duplicated,” Mar- Email addresses and phone numbers element of safety and communication.