ST. LOUIS (Mo.) -- Senior sponsors Elaine Christman, James Garner, and Jessi Castagna took a group of 19 Decatur High School seniors to St. Louis, Mo., for a senior trip on April 18 and 19.
The trip to St. Louis was quiet since most of the students slept, but the fun started at the St. Louis Zoo, where they spent their day taking pictures with exotic birds and falling in love with Asian elephants and other amazing animals.
"The penguins made me so happy," said Michelle Vang, "they were beyond cute, and I thought the exhibit was really interesting because they had a lot of facts about the penguins."
"My favorite part of the zoo was the reptile house," said Brandon Coker. "Personally, I enjoy snakes. So my favorite was the anaconda. They had lots of others, but it was the best."
"I liked the sea lions' tunnel. It was really cool how the sea lions would look in at us under the water," said Kevin Maciel.
After the zoo, the group stopped to recharge before the St. Louis Cardinals' game. The seniors were pleasantly surprised by a waiter at the local Steak N' Shake when he pulled out a deck of cards and started performing magic tricks right at their dinner table.
After the show and plenty of food, they went to watch the St. Louis Cardinals take a win against the Pittsburgh Pirates, 2-1.
"It was a blast. Especially the Cardinals' game, everyone enjoyed it, whether they were actually watching the game or just playing cards in the stands. It was a great experience and the memories will definitely last," said senior class president Ryan Shaffer.
"I liked the game, but I was a little disappointed that it was such a low scoring game," said Cadence Postoak.
Victoria Johnson said she liked going to Six Flags and "hanging out with everyone" on the 19th.
It was a special day for more than just the Decatur High School seniors, because Six-Flags in St. Louis hosted a special Senior Day on April 19th for any group willing to make the trip. Senior students from schools all over Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma hit the rides that day, with no small children in the park.
This year's seniors spent the school year working toward their last big trip by working at the University of Arkansas Razorback football games with the Sodexo Food Company, which supplies the box seats and the concession stands at the games. Each game raised almost $800 for the class and, by the time the end of the school year rolled around, the group had raised around $3,000 for the class trip. Although the school assisted with transportation and lodging, the bulk of the funds were brought in by the hard work and dedication of the students.
The last overnight senior trip for Decatur High School was more than 10 years ago and, at the beginning of the year, it looked like there wouldn't be one this year because the money they raised in the past went to the 2015-2016 prom. But, when the offer to work at the Razorback games came into play, senior sponsor James Garner jumped at the chance to help the seniors take advantage of the opportunity.
"It turned out to be a lot of work, but it was good to see the seniors pull together as a team. They overcame some real obstacles, raised the money they needed and had some fun in the process," Garner said.
While it was hard rounding up enough seniors to run a concession stand at each Razorback home game, the class was grateful for the opportunity to raise money for the trip and really appreciated the Decatur High School cheerleaders for helping them secure the work and pitching in to help.
"It was crazy nights full of blood, sweat and tears, but it was all worth it in the end," said senior Dylan Frydrychowski, who worked his fair share of Razorback games.
When the seniors returned from their trip, they pulled together a few more weeks of studying, finals and college preparation before their last day of school on May 5.
General News on 05/24/2017