The high school student councils took a field trip to Winding Trails on October 2. The students were split up into three groups based on grade, with sophomore and junior councils in two of the groups, and the senior and executive councils combining to make up the third group.   

The event was put together by Student Activities Director Chris Loomis, who collaborated with Assistant Principal Russell Crist to coordinate with Winding Trails.

“Scheduling the Field Trip started last year with Mr. Crist making the connection with Winding Trails. The planning that I was involved in required getting Dr. Hurwitz to support the trip since he was the Principal, and he gave his full support. The planning also involved working with Winding Trails to make sure we met the needs of our councils to ensure they not only bonded during the day but were able to have time to work together to thoughtfully plan for the year,” Loomis said.

The group started the day off by participating in a few large group challenges, then moved into the individual group activities. The activities each took between 30 and 45 minutes and featured a mix of both physical and mental challenges.

Principal Scott Hurwitz was able to stop by partway through and participate in some of the activities with the students.

“I would extend my thanks and appreciation to Mr. Loomis and the officers and advisors of the classes of 2020, 2021, and 2022.  We support the development of communication and problem-solving skills for our student leaders. I enjoyed the opportunity to visit and observe some of the great work being done by our student leaders,” Hurwitz said.

After the groups finished with the individual activities, they all met up to complete one final group challenge. Their task was to get everyone up and over a ten-foot wall. Each person could only help lift twice, and only three people could be at the top at a time. The councils struggled to come up with a plan initially, but once the activity got going, they were able to smoothly and efficiently complete the task with relative ease.

Once the wall had been scaled, the councils had time to individually brainstorm ideas for fundraisers and homecoming hallways, eventually meeting up as a big group to both share out ideas and offer suggestions to the other councils.

Gallery • 3 Photos

Senior class President Sia Goel was overall very happy with the event and its results and hopes to continue to build off of this success in the future.

“The atmosphere was open and welcoming of new ideas, and everyone was engaged in all our team building activities. The second half of the day was extremely productive and fulfilling as each council was able to plan and organize their ideas for homecoming hallway and other upcoming school events. Personally, I am very happy that I was able to spend a whole day with my friends and teachers having fun and taking a break from the stressors of daily life,” Goel said.