By CAROLINE IBARRA
Advertising/Fundraising Director
The Class of 2015 took a field trip to Allaire State Park in Wall today, after receiving funding from the PSFA to do so.
The trip featured a scavenger hunt hosted by Treasure Hunt Adventures for the first portion of the day. Students then spent the rest of day eating lunch and taking part in leisurely activities.
“Since freshmen get Thompson Park, juniors get where they went and seniors get a canoe trip, the PSFA decided that we should get a trip as sophomores,” said Sophomore Class President Hannah Wallach of Millstone. “Very generously, they decided to give us a thousand dollars.”
Wallach added that the money had to be used towards a field trip and could not be used towards any other class expenses. Students paid $15 per person, which allowed for the Sophomore Class to go on the trip without paying out of the class treasury.
Class council held a meeting shortly after it received the donation to allow class members to add their opinions as to where they would like to go. Wallach said many students expressed a desire to go to Six Flags or laser tagging, but class adviser and bio teacher Leah Morgan had heard about Treasure Hunt Adventures and thought it would make a suitable trip.
“I thought it would be like Thompson Park, but cooler,” said Morgan, who said she thought the “team-building” aspects of the trip made it both educational and fun.
In the scavenger hunt, 16 teams of five students worked together to find clues around a portion of the park and doing team challenges. One team would receive a key to a chest filled with prizes.
At the end of the hunt, all 85 students gathered around the chest to learn that they had all won the challenge, as working as one united group leads to success for all. Each student received a commemorative tumbler from the event as a prize.
“It was an interesting concept for a trip,” said Alyssa Matlosz of Tinton Falls. “It wasn’t what I expected when I was told it was a scavenger hunt. I thought it was a lot of fun but once the heat really set in it just got exhausting.”
With temperatures reaching 90 degrees, Emily Rathburn of Atlantic Highlands agreed, saying that it was “a little too hot” for a scavenger hunt and that she would have appreciated picking her own team.
However, both students said that they enjoyed the free time toward the end of the trip.
“My favorite part of the trip was the free time,” said Matlosz. “The whole class is rarely together outside of the school building, so hanging out with everyone was cool. It was like another Thompson Park, but less awkward.”