The Press Newspaper

Toledo, Ohio & Lake Erie

The Press Newspaper

The Press Newspaper


During spring break, many high school students were stuck inside watching the rain, while Woodmore faculty member Erin Reynolds enjoyed herself in Australia.

Reynolds, who teaches students with special needs, went to Australia to visit her friend Jamie Bannear, who was a foreign exchange student from Australia that Reynolds met in high school.

In Australia, Reynolds met many of Bannear’s friends and family. She also met people from other countries, including people from Canada and a woman from New Zealand she talked to while on her plane.

Erin Reynolds holds a Koala bear on her trip to
Australia. (Window To Woodmore photo)

“It was very fun to meet people from other countries and see how their cultures differed from ours,”
said Reynolds.

After her 22-hour flight, Reynolds touched down in Australia. While there Reynolds went to a zoo, a German village, a chocolate factory and local attractions such as the world’s largest wooden horse and the Whispering Wall.

“If you just whispered people could hear you from the other side,” said Reynolds about the Whispering Wall.

It was extremely hot in Australia where they had a record high temperature for that time of year.

“It was about 91 degrees, and it is fall for them and usually it’s only 70 to 75 degrees,” said Reynolds.

At the beach Reynolds was staying at, there were news reporters talking to citizens about the record
temperatures, asking their thoughts about the heat. Reynolds could be seen twice in the background, once in the water with Bannear, and once on the beach with him.

“To go to Australia is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, to appear on the news there is unheard of,” said Reynolds.

In Australia, many things are quite different than in the U.S. People in Australia get a lot more vacation time than people in the U.S. While people in America go to college after graduation, Australians go on vacation. Americans have school for nine months and then summer break, while Australians go all year round but take four to five week breaks for holidays such as Christmas or Halloween.

Australia’s $1 currency is worth about 97 cents in America. The lowest bill for Australia is a 5, and they use one-dollar coins.

While a good portion of Woodmore’s students’ vacation time was in Ohio, dealing with the rain, Reynolds was in Australia, where it only rained one night. Reynolds enjoyed holding a koala and feeding kangaroos more than anything else.

“I would love to go again,” said Reynolds. “Except next time I would stay longer so I can see more of the country.”

(Reprinted from Woodmore To Window, a student publication, with permission.)

$15 Hourly wage
