Church to help family ravaged by house fire

Crestwood speller makes the cut

<b>First Posted:</b> 3/10/2007<br><br>By KRIS WERNOWSKY kwernowsky@www.timesleader.com
UNION TWP. &amp;ndash; A digital camera in hand, Beth Kingsbury waved as the bus carrying her youngest son, Andy, pulled away from the high school and headed toward Disney World.

Andy&amp;rsquo;s grandmother, Carol Bennett, shed a few tears as the bus left.
&amp;ldquo;I went with my oldest sons years ago when they were still taking parents,&amp;rdquo; Kingsbury said as the bus carrying her 17-year-old traveled out of view. &amp;ldquo;It was absolutely awesome. The kids, they love it.&amp;rdquo;
More than half of the Northwest Area High School&amp;rsquo;s senior class headed to Florida at the end of the school day Friday for the weeklong trip through Orlando&amp;rsquo;s vacation spot. During their time in Florida, the students, six faculty chaperones and one medic will have a four-day pass to Disney World in lieu of regular classes.
Out of 98 seniors, 47 paid $866 of their own money, their parents&amp;rsquo; cash or fundraising dollars to finance the trip. But for many school districts, the logistics of such a venture make long trips next to impossible.
With 800 students in his high school&amp;rsquo;s senior class, Hazleton Area High School Principal Robert Stefanovich said a trip of that magnitude is out of the question. Instead, the school offers juniors and seniors with perfect attendance a school day to visit Dorney Park &amp;amp; Wildwater Kingdom in Allentown. 
&amp;ldquo;There are various groups that take various trips throughout the year,&amp;rdquo; he said. &amp;ldquo;The problems is, with classes our size, we can&amp;rsquo;t do that. Plus, if you&amp;rsquo;re taking a class on a trip, what about the kids who can&amp;rsquo;t afford to go?&amp;rdquo;
Hanover Area Superintendent Anthony Podczasy said finances are the biggest reason why his school district chooses not to have a school-sponsored senior class outing.
&amp;ldquo;Instead, at the end of the year, we have an outing for the seniors on school grounds,&amp;rdquo; he said. 
Pat Funk, executive director of the Association of Retail Travel Agents in Scottsdale, Ariz., said several well-publicized traveling mishaps, including a recent bus crash near Atlanta that killed seven college baseball team members, have raised concerns by parents about sending their children on long road trips.
&amp;ldquo;Parents think about that,&amp;rdquo; said Funk, whose organization counts 3,000 travel agencies as members. &amp;ldquo;A lot of schools do have trips, but several have also stopped doing it. I think cost is just another issue.&amp;rdquo; 
In Northwest Area&amp;rsquo;s case, the principal and school officials insist there were plenty of opportunities for less-affluent students to pay for the trip through fundraising. Students were made aware of the senior trip at the end of their junior year when they were asked to place a $50 deposit.
&amp;ldquo;The opportunity for fundraising leveled the playing field,&amp;rdquo; said Joseph Gorham, Northwest Area High School principal.
While the students will miss four days of class time, Gorham insists features such as the Hall of Presidents and Disney&amp;rsquo;s mock ethnic villages will be educational. One world literature teacher gave some students an essay assignment based around the trip.

    

Kris Wernowsky, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 831-7329.

Senior trips not feasible for many