Dustin Hymel has been traveling with Super Holiday Tours since he was a high school student.
Hymel began teaching at Louisiana’s Belle Chasse Middle School in 2007. In 2008, he took over a struggling Belle Chasse High School band program and grew the program from 12 students to approximately 70 students today. As a high school student at Brother Martin High School in New Orleans, he traveled to Disney three times with Super Holiday Tours. So, when he became a director and began taking students on trips, Super Holiday Tours was the clear option.
We asked Hymel for his insight into student travel, including a recent trip and performance at Disney World.
What do you hope students will get from travel opportunities?
Student travel is a reward for the hard work of our band members throughout the school year, but it’s much more than that. There is a certain amount of freedom and responsibility that comes with traveling as a student. The students are responsible for waking themselves up in the morning, planning their day, managing their money, and being on time. Parents have told me in the past that their students have returned from the trip just a little more mature than when they left. I believe this is an important part of teenage development.
I’m sure you have lots of travel experiences but what’s a highlight for you?
The highlight for me is providing an opportunity to students who may never have the means to travel to places like Disney World. Many of my students have never visited Disney World, and seeing the joy on their faces at the end of the day provides the motivation for me to continue these travel experiences.
You went to Magic Kingdom recently. Could you talk about how that went?
This was my seventh time taking our band on a Disney trip, and everything went smoothly. The students seemed to have an enjoyable time, the hotel was great, Disney was fun, and our performance opportunity was a very memorable one. I will continue to travel with student groups in the future, and will continue to use the services of Super Holiday Tours.
Speaking about Super Holiday specifically, can you touch on what you like about working with them?
In the nearly 15 years I have been traveling with student groups, I have shopped around for the best value multiple times. Super Holiday Tours has always provided the best value for our group. More importantly, I have built a relationship with the company. Jennifer has been our agent for the entire time I’ve worked with Super Holiday Tours, and she has been nothing short of amazing every time. When I work with Jennifer, it’s like having a close friend planning my trip.
And how did Super Holiday help while you were actually on the trip?
Super Holiday Tours has always been outstanding! Our rep, Jennifer, is always available for phone calls, texts, or emails. Anything that needed to be done was handled almost immediately, no matter the time of day. There were no issues that arose that Jennifer was not able to address. Her knowledge, experience, personality, and dedication has always made for a great experience. She is the reason we continue to utilize the services of Super Holiday Tours, and will continue to do so in the future. She has become more than a colleague and travel agent, she has become a friend.
Any final advice or wisdom for other educators reading this?
Student travel is one of the best opportunities you can provide to your students. The experience the students receive from student travel helps them to grow as individuals, and that is the purpose of music education at this level. Student travel has been an indispensable recruiting tool for my band program, and our trips wouldn’t be the same without the help of Super Holiday Tours.