Seniors overcome serious problems with senior trip

The Class of 2014 pushes through a rough patch with their Class Trip and manages to pull through with a uniquely free trip.

Cameron Petit, Editor

Serving as a final gathering for the graduating class, the senior trip makes for a great way to say goodbye to the peers that you played tag with in elementary school, dated in middle school, and grew to love in high school.

But sometimes, the pressures that come with senior year can transform a fun–filled trip into a stressful nightmare for the class advisor, class officers, and the class in general.

Class advisor Dave Pasquarello explains what exactly happened with the senior class trip this year.

“There were too many risk variables and the administration here decided that it wasn’t worth it to go to Pennsylvania,” Pasquarello said.

Administration’s concerns were that the trip was too far away, which they saw could be a problem for several reasons. First, in the case of an emergency, the drive home would be almost eight hours, and second, the class was planning on arriving home early the morning before senior assembly, and administration was afraid that they would not be home in time for the ceremony.

Things were working out and we were confident, but unfortunately it was unrealistic with finances, transportation, chaperones, and possible circumstances…basically the whole idea was a little far fetched

— Amber Mondor

“I think they looked at all of that and just decided that it wasn’t smart to send our kids to Pennsylvania,” Pasquarello said.

Senior class vice president Amber Mondor clarifies administration’s reasoning.

“It wasn’t really a cancellation but they basically pointed out to us that the entire plan just was not possible,” said Mondor. “Unfortunately, it just didn’t work out, but we’re still going to an amusement park, it’s just not an organized overnight trip.”

Because of these reasons, “the plug got pulled in the best interest for the safety of the kids” which had some negative financial effects.

“We had sent out deposit checks and Mr. Sirois had the ability to stop payment on those checks,” said Pasquarello. “They [Hershey Park] had sent our tickets for us and they were concerned that they sent out tickets and now the checks were canceled and this strange school from Maine was going to walk away with these tickets, so I had to take care of that end of it.”

Mondor explains how these problems came about.

“Things were working out and we were confident, but unfortunately it was unrealistic with finances, transportation, chaperones, and possible circumstances…basically the whole idea was a little far fetched,” said Mondor. “Also, many things still had to be done to organize that we’re not getting done, and a few things went wrong with the dates,”

Senior class secretary Phoebe Robinson agrees.

“A lot of the details that we thought were taken care of weren’t actually addressed yet,” said Robinson. “When we sat down and figured everything out we realized that the money was going to be a problem because not only would people have to pay but we would have had zero money left over for graduation, so we changed the trip.”

Luckily, Pasquarello says that no funds were lost and that it was just a matter of redirecting. But what exactly did they do to save their class trip? They decided to spend the day at an amusement psrk closer to home, Six Flags New England, instead of Hershey Park, which is in Pennsylvania. The class did not react very well to the change.

“Some of the kids in the class were upset that the trip got changed and so on, they were looking forward to going to Pennsylvania,” said Pasquarello. “[But] I think the right decisions were made and we’re going to have a great Senior trip…we just changed direction and now we’re in great shape.”

Mondor justifies their decisions.

“We were afraid of the whole thing becoming a disaster, so we had no choice but to change it,” Mondor said.

Mondor believes that there is a bigger problem here than the trip itself, however. Without a doubt in her mind, Mondor thinks that the pressures of being a class officer have become too much, answering “definitely” when asked.

“[There’s] too much pressure for five people…I think there should be designated committees, rather than just throwing responsibility to the class,” said Mondor. “For example: prom committee, homecoming committee, fund-raising committees, senior committee, etc…”

Both Pasquarello and Robinson recognize that there is a lack of participation, but do not believe that the pressure is too much, respectively.

“You probably have…18 kids… to do most of the work, so that old 80-20 percent rule–20 percent of the people do 80 percent of the work–it’s not even that high,” said Pasquarello. “It’s hard work…[but] it’s rewarding work.”

But Pasquarello does not blame the members of the Class of 2014.

“There’s not enough people pitching in, and it’s not necessarily the kids in class’s fault…you guys are doing so many things nowadays, there’s so many different sports and clubs and competitions and fundraisers for all of these different groups all of the time,” said Pasquarello. “So now you have that small group of people doing all of those things, it’s stressful.”

Robinson agrees with Pasquarello.

“99% of the time, no [there’s not too much pressure], but when situations like this arise then it’s really difficult for the officers to deal with it because it’s not something we know how to handle,” Robinson said.

This raises a point as to whether the responsibilities of the class organizers is too much because there are no guidelines to follow. Pasquarello doesn’t believe this to be true whatsoever, as he thinks that Biddeford High School Student Council and administration provides him with enough direction.

“Part of your responsibility as an advisor is to try to help your kids get what they want,” said Pasquarello. “We’re not just swinging in the breeze.”

Class of 2011 advisor Mr. Minzy believe otherwise, saying that putting on a class trip is “just one part of the difficulty of being an advisor.”

“It was incredibly time consuming,” said Minzy. “We went white water rafting and so you’re taking one hundred, two hundred kids out into the woods and taking them on a semi–dangerous activity and you’ve got to make sure that everything’s set and everything’s safe…it’s really difficult.”

Regardless of the stress, the current advisor and officers are still proud of one aspect of the trip.

“Everyone can go for free, which was our main goal,” Robinson said.

This, Mondor said, was something they wanted from the beginning.

“Keeping the trip completely free for seniors was the number one priority for us, but we wanted to do something different,” Mondor said.

This aspect of the trip is a rare occurrence, as not many seniors get to enjoy their last field trip for absolutely free, making this senior class trip truly unique.

“Going to Pennsylvania, no class has ever done that before,” said Pasquarello. “This is [also] the first time that a class has had a Senior trip where all of the expenses were paid.”

Through his four years of experience, Pasquarello has learned more than enough about managing a class, and, through the ups and downs, the stresses and successes, the lack of an advisor handbook, and the love for his class, he gives a final word of advice.

“My best advice to future advisors and advisors now is to just know that you can’t do everything on your own, you need the help of staff and parents, and try to get as many kids involved as you can.”