Last month, students in Mrs. Tracey Buot’s Theatre Program and Mr. Dennis Ruggiero’s Genocide and the Holocaust class took field trips to New York City and Washington D.C. respectively. 

The Theatre Program attended three Broadway shows, “Chicago,” “Hadestown,” and “Six,” along with two Broadway workshops, one for specific choreography for a Broadway show and one for general acting. 

“The Broadway workshops were a lot of fun because in one of the workshops we were led by one of the people who were in the show we were going see (“Chicago”), so one of the dancers showed us the dance she was going to perform that night,” senior Bianca Cardona said.

Junior Chloe Burgoon was one of 25 students who went on the trip, the first time the group has ever been to New York City.

“It’s cool because it’s an experience I would never get if I didn’t go with my school,” she said. “It’s a whole new experience, and we’ve all gotten really close.”

Cardona agreed, saying, “When you wake and you see your cast members and you go to bed seeing your cast members, you end up talking more and sharing more.”  

The same weekend seniors in the Genocide and Holocaust class took their annual trip to Washington D.C. to visit the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

The graphic pictures, videos, artifacts, and other displays in the museum left a lasting impression on the students. They also each received a passport with the identity of a real person who experienced the Holocaust, allowing them to read their personal story throughout the museum and ultimately learn their fate.

“I got to experience interactive things and learn things I didn’t know,” senior Maddox Smith said. 

Speaking about the class in general, senior Zach Consolazio said, “It’s depressing material, but it’s more learning about the history of it,” adding that “it’s probably my favorite class I have ever taken.”

Students also visited monuments and memorials in Washington D.C., including the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, Vietnam Veterans Memorial, and Jefferson Memorial as well as the Smithsonaian museums.

They went to a hockey game as well, where the hometown Capitals took on the Pittsburgh Penguins. 

“It was kind of funny because Mr. Ruggiero is a really big Penguins fan and they got demolished,” senior Abby Russo said.

And like the Theater Program, students said the trip helped them bond with their classmates. 

“I feel like we definitely got closer. It was a good mix of people,” said Smith. 

Both groups were grateful for the opportunity to expand their knowledge outside the classroom and enjoy several days away from home with their classmates.