By J.WILLEY

    This year’s senior trip was to Washington D.C. on April 29. A bus full of seniors departed the school at 3 a.m., stopping at McDonalds and Dunkin’ Donuts for breakfast at 6 a.m., then continued on their journey to Washington D.C. 

    When they arrived, they were allowed about nine hours to explore the National Mall. The second option was to go ziplining at Go Ape Zipline and Adventure Park. 

    Mr. Michael Wilson, Driver’s Education teacher at BAHS, was one of the chaperones on the trip and also serves as one of the Senior Class advisors.  

    “We proceeded to downtown D.C. to the zoo, where we all had passes to spend a couple of hours there. Then we dropped a group at the National Mall area, then we proceeded up to Rockville M.D. to Go Ape Zipline Park,” he said.

    Mr. Wilson reported that 19 students participated in around 4 hours of high elements and ziplining. 

    “When finished we went back down to the Wharf area where we met up with the other groups to eat at the harbor/wharf area before leaving to come back home at 9 p.m.”

    Mr. Wilson will always remember the time he spent with the Class of 2022 during this day trip.

    “I personally enjoyed the Wharf Area (harbor) in D.C. Ultimately, it was about team bonding, comradery, and enjoying one another’s company together as a Class of 2022, one last time,” he said.

    Senior Hana Rados had an “epic time” on the senior trip even before they got to D.C..

    “It was a little surreal, mainly when we went to McDonald’s for breakfast at 6 a.m.,” Hana said. 

    However, Hana’s favorite part of the trip was watching the sunset on the pier at the end of the day. 

    “It was a quiet end to a chaotic day. Also when Mr. Wilson bought the zipliners pizza because we were talking about it all day,” Hana said.

    Senior Davis Folnsbee also enjoyed the beauty of the wharf and the time he spent with his fellow classmates on the trip. 

    “It was fun, and I really liked walking on the wharf,” Davis said. “It was a nice moment to have before we have to leave. It ended off the year nice, and I had a really good time,” he said.

    His highlights include “riding the ziplines, talking with friends on the bus, having dinner on the wharf watching the sunset.”

    Senior Josie Confer’s favorite moment was seeing the “adorable” animals at the zoo, and the beauty of the art she got to see on the trip.

    “My favorite part was probably the zoo and going through the art museums,” Josie said.   

    Senior Kaitlyn Moten also enjoyed the zoo, but her favorite part of the trip was the zipline. 

    “It was something I’ve never done before so I got to try something new and really enjoyed it,” she said. 

    Like many of her classmates, this was Kaitlyn’s first field trip since middle school, so many students were excited to be out of the school for the day. Senior Class Secretary Angelina is one of them. 

    “This trip helped to prove that things are finally going back to normal, like this whole year was… it shows the progress we’ve made since the pandemic happened,” Angelina said. 

    Angelina loved the calm ending to the beautiful trip. She will always have a special memory of the Wharf and “being near the water watching the sunset.”

    Senior Paige Kephart is grateful for the opportunity to go on this trip, and experienced a peaceful moment with some of her favorite people. 

    “One of my favorite moments was when we sat on the Ulysses S. Grant Memorial next to the US Capitol building because we were right across from the home of our democracy, and we got to watch the sunset over the Washington Monument and Reflection pool in the distance ahead of us.  It was quite frankly a beautiful and heartwarming moment,” Paige said. 

    Paige not only enjoyed the scenery, but the artifacts and documents that are on display in D.C. as well. 

    “I loved seeing documents like the Declaration of Independence at the National Archives.  While we were there, our friend Liam (Carey) finally was able to buy a replica, which he went on to almost cuddle and keep close to him for the rest of the trip.  It was still in his arms when we got home,” Paige said. 

    After a very eventful day, the seniors departed D.C. around 9 a.m. and finally arrived back to Bellefonte around 1 a.m. on April 30.