Senior class trip called off…for now
When asked what they are doing for spring break, Cotter seniors won’t be yelling, ‘I am going to Disney World!,’ this year.
“It has been decided that we will not have a senior class trip to Florida this year,” said Dave Forney, principal of Cotter Schools, in an email sent out to all seniors and senior parents in late November.
Mr. Forney mentioned in his email that there was a lot of thoughts and discussions about whether or not to continue the senior class trip, but it was decided that there would not be one due to reasons such as not having total class participation, cost, time, and purpose of the trip.
In past years, the trip to Florida consisted of riding coach buses there and back, going to Disney World, Cocoa Beach, one free day that the students could decide where they wanted to go, and some other free time for the students to have fun and spend quality time with their classmates.
Cost and level of participation in the past few year’s are two reasons the trip has been canceled.
This year’s schedule also played a role, as there is not a full week off this year and many seniors, including a high level of boarding students, have not joined the trip in the last few years. These were factors that led to the move.
Many seniors are not happy about this decision. Andrew Arnold, whose sister went on the trip last year, is one of those people.
“My sister Alex really enjoyed going on the trip. It gave her the opportunity to be with her friends and have fun in a different location. I think she benefited from the opportunity and became closer to the students who went on the trip,” Arnold said.
¨Just because a fraction of the class doesn’t want to go doesn’t mean that the whole trip should be canceled,”Arnold added.
“It was disappointing to hear about. It is definitely something that I’ve been looking forward to doing, but now I’ll just stay home I guess,” Henry Reilly said.
Connor Hagarty has been working hard to get this trip back on the agenda.
¨I was just so incredibly disappointed. We worked so hard to present the truth of what the senior class had to say, and we worked so hard to represent every idea and opinion each senior had. All the planning and work that went into it is now worthless which ticks me off because once you invest time, energy, and emotion into something, and the result it disheartening, you lose that push to continue. However I am not done with my task here at all. Mr. Forney has asked me to continue to work with this potentially grand trip for whatever it’s worth and I am looking forward to that very much¨.
Some teachers and staff also see benefits in the trip.
Mrs. Lisowski went on the senior class trip along with her husband for over 20 years.
¨There are many benefits to this trip. Students get to bond with their friends, connect with other classmates, learn the skills of living together with others in the hotel room that they will need next year at college, and most importantly, it is a lot of fun for the seniors. They deserve to have one last ¨hoorah¨ and celebration together as they graduate high school¨.
A survey went out to all seniors earlier this school year about the senior class trip. Based on the responses, participation in the trip this year was looking to be a high percentage of the class in comparison to previous years.
Connor Hagarty says based off the survey responses, “People were eager to go on this trip and you could tell”.
Many people have been looking forward to this trip since junior high.
Another point of contention was the timing of the announcement. Some suggest that the last people to go on the trip should be the incoming freshmen next year. That way, they know four years in advance and can plan other vacations.
If there is still going to be a senior class trip to somewhere other than Florida, people’s money could go toward that. Although, based on survey responses, many students are not planning to go on the trip if it is to anywhere but Florida.
“It all depends where it is. If it is somewhere close like Chicago, I would rather stay at home, but it is further away, somewhere I haven’t been before or don’t go often, then for sure I would go,” Henry Reilly said.
Despite their disappointment, students are still working hard and eager to get a trip back on the agenda.
