Parent testimonials

Sending your son or daughter on an international tour is a huge decision. You'll be considering many factors: Is this a safe experience? Is it a valuable learning experience? Will it meet my child's needs? Will he/she feel socially comfortable? Is it worth the considerable expense? How will this experience contribute to my son or daughter's growth?

Perhaps it will be helpful for you to hear, in their own words, feedback we've received from parents of students who have traveled with us. Thank you to these parents for sharing their opinions.

My son was so excited after finding out that Lyrics members had the opportunity to travel to Europe. He came home without hesitation and said, “I want to go.” I began to ask questions. He was ready to answer all of my questions. I told him that I would think about it but in the back of my mind, I worried. It’s so expensive, he’s so young, it’s so far away and the state of affairs in the world were worries that would not leave me. I thought that is was such a great opportunity. No one in our family had ever gone out of the country before. It’s the type of experience that the average person does not get. Every time I thought of a reason why he should go, I thought of another reason why he shouldn’t go. I decided to have another conversation with my son. As I spoke with him, I could hear the delight in his voice. He had it all planned out, even down to who his roommate was going to be. At that point, I made my decision…I had to find a way to make this happen for him, even though I was apprehensive about him going away. The more information I got, the more comfortable I felt about him going. As a parent, you constantly worry when your child is not with you. I felt that I could not allow my fear to impede such a wonderful experience. When he returned from the trip, he was exhausted from the travel; however, we stayed up for hours talking about his experience. The laughter, the horsing around, the time spent looking out for each other and being accountable to one another. There is no way in the world that I could have recreated those moments for him. This trip opened his eyes to a whole new world. I really believe that this trip helped him feel more confident in himself and his ability to be more independent. One of best decisions I ever made!

I was impressed with the way the trip was organized and I felt confident that all of our kids were in the best of hands. This trip was both educational and inspirational in a way that my daughter has never experienced.

Kayla, I just wanted to take a moment to officially thank you for providing our students with the extraordinary opportunity to travel to Europe to make music in some of the most beautiful and historic venues and cathedrals in the world - not to mention the impromptu performances in restaurants, airports and street corners. This is an experience that that has touched my son immeasurably, and has, without doubt, been the highlight of his high school career to date. As he has said, it was the trip of a life time, and all of the kids bonded and became like family. Lyrics, and, in fact, the entire music program at LHS is a blessing. Aside from the glorious music, the students learn tremendous life lessons, develop compassion, empathy, dedication, drive, perseverance and camaraderie. The trip to Europe is simply the icing on the cake. Although I was somewhat apprehensive about sending my child overseas on a school trip, I would do it again in a heart beat. It was well supervised, well chaperoned, well planned and even included some important and meaningful sight seeing. It was well worth every penny! Thank you so much for investing so much of yourself in our children.

The memories from our childhood can become few and far between as we get older but we know that our daughter will always remember her trip to Europe with Lyrics. If it’s telling her children that she was at the fountain where the von Trapp children sang in the Sound Of Music or striking up a conversation with a person about Viennese Waltz Lessons, she will remember. This trip was invaluable in so many ways. She experienced more independence, responsibility, European culture, new friendships and a stronger appreciation for music. As a parent, watching our daughter’s excitement grow was infectious! We are truly grateful to Mrs. Werlin for sharing her world traveling expertise and organizing a trip that provided us parents with thorough information and peace of mind. Our daughter was fortunate enough to take this trip. She loved it and wants to see more of Europe. Our hope is that someday she will return!