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‘No one panicked’ on trip to France, says Niagara Catholic student
Mar 24, 2020 by Kris Dubé The Welland Tribune
A Grade 9 Notre Dame College School student says he has "no regrets" that he went on a trip to Europe in early March as the COVID-19 pandemic was starting to ramp up and spread in countries across the world.
The youngest of 10 students to travel to France accompanied by two chaperones from Niagara Catholic District School Board, Daniel Mastrella and the rest of the group flew into Paris on March 6.
Most students stayed with host families in and around the city of Loches. Mastrella stayed in Paris in a home with a view of the Eiffel Tower.
On March 9, the group headed to St. Denis School in Loches. The trip was supposed to go until March 21, but as the pandemic continued to evolve their flight home was bumped up to March 19.
Then after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called for all Canadians to return home, the group was able to get on a plane headed back March 17.
When this news broke, Mastrella said he knew it was serious and that staying was not wise.
"Our chaperones did a great job of giving us facts but not panicking us, so even though we were disappointed the trip was ending four days earlier than planned, we understood why," said Mastrella who has been self-isolating at home in Welland since returning.
"Everything was taken care of for us and no one panicked," he said, adding they were in an unaffected area of France.
The group had a brief layover of about an hour and a half in Germany before landing at Toronto Pearson International Airport.
Brandy Ford's daughter Summer also went on the trip.
She said knowing her daughter was overseas as the crisis escalated was the "most stressful and powerless experience" she's had as a parent.
"Having a child in France and watching the pandemic escalate daily, even hourly, and not being able to do anything was like being knocked down over and over again," said Ford.
Aside from the panic, Ford is glad everyone made it home safely, adding the students were "always looked after well" during the trip.
The trip was part of an exchange program in its second year where students from St. Denis, France spend time in Niagara before local students head there.
There was a group of students from France in the region for most of February as part of the program.
On March 2, District School Board of Niagara cancelled two trips to Europe that were supposed to take place during March break by a couple of Niagara Falls groups consisting of 14 students from A.N. Myer Secondary School and four from Stamford Collegiate.
Niagara Catholic chose to keep home a group of about 50 students and teachers from departing for Italy, Spain and France for March break.But the group that went to St. Denis was not held back.
At the time, there were 20 confirmations of COVID-19 in Ontario, with eight cases in British Columbia and one in Quebec.
Approximately 90,000 cases were reported in at least 67 countries as of Monday when a final decision on the trips were being considered.
As of Tuesday, there were close to 500 confirmed cases in Ontario and 334,000 cases in 189 countries and territories, according to World Health Organization.
Niagara Catholic education director John Crocco said the virus has spread "lightning-fast" since the students left on the trip.
"Collectively, the parents wanted to proceed as a group," said Crocco, adding there was "no indication at that point" the travel ban would escalate to the level it has.
Niagara Catholic has been taking students on international trips for many years, including a group of about 350 to Vimy Ridge.
"Our staff have a lot of experience in international trips," said Crocco.
The board has suspended all trips for the remainder of the school year.
