Written By Chelsea Pacheco
Pictures By Deja Fleury and Insider Monkey

A Project Graduation fundraiser was a bus trip to New York City . Who does not love the city? The parents who help run the fundraisers thought that many people would be interested in going to the city with their classmates. This field trip took place on December 6th, 2015. A coach bus, left at 8 am for the city. When they arrived, everyone split up; however, the groups of kids had to be with a chaperone.  The money is going to help pay for the after graduation. Seniors paid $40 to go on the trip.

While in New York, one of the students’ biggest wishes was to go see the tree and Times Square. Times Square is the most known place in New York. There are skyscrapers that have screens on them for advertisements and announcements. Also, there is an ice skating rink around the huge tree for people to enjoy. However, one of the biggest shocks was that there were cops on every turn and with them they had huge guns. Because of the recent terrorism threats, everyone is very cautious. The school was hesitant to even allow this trip, but the students are happy they were able to enjoy the city.

Also, the souvenir shops were big. What teenager does not spend money when they go on a trip? Senior Deja Fleury mentioned some of the items that were purchased: NYC car stickers, snow globes, and key chains. When the students got tired, they stopped for a bite to eat. One of the more popular places was Five Guys. After walking around the streets of the city all day, Five Guys is a great choice for a meal to restore energy before continuing  to walk and explore the city.

Although “On the way up to New York,” Senior Deja Fleury reported talking with with Senior Kelsey Hopkins, “about attacks or the ‘what if’s'”, once they got to the city, Deja explained, ” we forgot about it. We were so happy to be there and excited as to what this day has to bring. Although, when we were walking , we would see the cops with the huge guns.  We got concerned and realized how real terrorism is. But other than that, I forgot about terrorism, and I had a fun day.”

Sadly, most of the people on this trip were the parents. Roughly, 10 students went. The students included Deja Fleury, Kelsey Hopkins, Courtney Carroll, Rebecca Turner, Caleigh Heske, Lucas Lennox, and a few more.  The field trip was directed by parents. However, many seniors did not know about the trip. If more students knew about the trip, more would have attended and more money would have been made for Project Graduation.

This year, Project Graduation also held the Harlem Wizards fundraiser.