Fidler aids Monrovia group’s return home from Poland

In a story straight out of “Argo” meets “Planes, Trains and Automobiles,” Kim Fidler of Greencastle played a starring role in bringing a group of stranded Monrovia students, teachers and parents home from Europe.

The group was on a 10-day school trip to Europe, arranged before the restrictions of the COVID-19 virus really hit, when in the midst of things, they were awakened on Friday the 13th in Poland to learn that the borders were closing and their flight home out of Frankfurt, Germany, was in peril.

Kim Fidler

Fidler, a UniServ director for the Indiana State Teachers Association (ISTA), was unaware what was playing out halfway around the world as she hosted a meeting of Vigo County secretaries and custodians, sharing information on how they might be affected when schools were being closed the following Monday because of the virus situation.

“Walking to my car, I noticed I had a text from Robin Robinson (a friend and Monrovia teacher),” Fidler told the Banner Graphic. “It said ’We’re stuck in Poland!’

“The first thing I thought was, ‘This is a scam and they want money,’” Fidler continued.

But when she called Robinson, Fidler got an emphatic, “It is not (a scam)!” And further learned that the border with Germany was being closed down and the group would be unable to get to the airport in Frankfurt for a flight home to O’Hare Airport in Chicago.

The group, staying in Krakow, was awakened 3 a.m. by phone calls from home, saying “You need to get out of there.” The Czech border was being closed, cutting off access to Budapest, where the group had a connecting flight to Germany, and other flights were being canceled.

The 20 students and 20 adults in the group initially thought they might be stuck in Poland for up to 30 days and didn’t like what they were hearing from the tour company.

“The tour company basically dropped them,” Fidler related. “Their tour guide ditched them.”

Robinson told Fidler she called her “because I knew you shook the cages of a lot of people and you weren’t just going to let it go,” Fidler shared.

“Kim was always someone who could make some waves. That’s why I texted her,” Robinson told the NEA for a story on its website. “All the teachers in the group are all union members. So they were all behind this. We knew ISTA could get things done.”

Setting aside any politics, Fidler, who is Putnam County Democrat chairman, immediately started calling contacts, including the office of U.S. Sen. Mike Braun, a Republican, and National Education Association (NEA) director of government relations Marc Egan.

She quickly became the main point of contact for the group, relaying information from Robinson to individuals who were in a position to help get the group across the border into Germany.

“I said, there should be an embassy, call the embassy,” Fidler said of her suggestion to her contacts. “I continued to be the bridge between them. I’m not the UniServ director for their area, but they contacted me.”

And Fidler wasn’t about to leave them hanging.

Sen. Braun’s office in Washington got in touch with the embassy in Germany to help facilitate transportation to get the group across the border and get them to Frankfurt.

“It was like planes, trains and automobiles,” Fidler continued, noting that some bus drivers had offered to take the group across the border for $500. “It was kind of like extortion.”

However, Sen. Braun’s office arranged with the embassy in Germany to get a bus to take the group across the border, and then another to Frankfurt on Saturday, March 14 in order to catch their 10:45 a.m. flight to Chicago the following day.

When the Monrovia group touched down at Chicago, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention representatives took everyone’s temperature. While no one displayed any symptoms, they were advised to self-quarantine for two weeks.

Following that lengthy ordeal in Chicago, the group boarded a charter bus from O’Hare, finally arriving in Indiana Sunday night.

“They got a police escort (to Monrovia) from Plainfield,” Fidler said, “We had a great ending. It was tense for a while but it’s not that they were in a war zone or in danger of being hurt.

“I don’t think they were fearful,” she added, “other than being worried about not being to get out.”

Fidler said she’s continued to check on Robinson, a social studies teacher, who has been confined to her home, grading papers.

“We’re able to laugh about it now,” Fidler said. “It was a scary weekend until they got home to Monrovia.”