By LEIGH C. MERRIFIELD
News & Journal Editor
It is typical for high school seniors to plan an excursion as the school year nears its end; usually it is a day trip. However, Lincoln High School’s upcoming Class of 2017 wanted to do something a little more elaborate! Their choice was to visit New York City.
Fund-raising events are also typical, and planning and executing these events begin during their freshman year and are ongoing through their high school career. A great deal of their accumulated funds was spent on their Junior Prom, so in the fall of this year they began in earnest to earn more money to cut the cost of their senior trip. They were successful – raising about $4,000!
They traveled by charter bus, arranged through American Destinations. A very well organized visit, there were 35 students – all seniors – along with four class advisors and six parents who made the trip.
They left last Friday night at 11 p.m. and returned home Monday morning at 1 a.m. They stayed at the Meadowland View Hotel in New Jersey, located just outside of NYC at the end of the Lincoln Tunnel.
Their time was, needless to say, packed full of activities! And it all began with the students getting their few seconds of “fame with cameras panning their group holding “Lincoln High School” signs outside the Today Show on Saturday morning. What a way to begin!
The group then had some free time to visit what they wanted in the city … visiting Fifth Avenue, Central Park, Rockefeller Plaza, Times Square, Harold Square, and some taking in a museum. They met that evening for a class dinner at Planet Hollywood and also visited the Top of the rock.
After some well deserved rest, Sunday began with a tour of the City – Columbus Circle and Strawberry Fields, Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village, the 9/11 Museum tour led by a former firefighter, and a visit to the Oculus, an underground, open, three-story mall with 250 stores that just opened in September! Then it was on to Battery Park, the Statue of Liberty, and they finished with a stop at Chinatown and Little Italy. Since the greater percentage of the senior students who made the trip to the Big Apple were female, it goes without saying that lots of purses were purchased!
Their weekend was FULL and they didn’t miss much. Adult chaperones were quick to note that they had traveled with a great group of students; no one got lost and no one was late for group gatherings! And perhaps the best part was that they made many great memories that they’ll carry with them for a lifetime!
