February vacation is rapidly approaching as some of the Malden high staff and students get ready for the Costa Rica trip. The trip will be led by math teacher Sarah Jones and accompanied by science teacher Shauna Campbell. The trips are a part of the Tornado Travelers Club In which gives students and teachers the opportunity to travel abroad during vacation. Students can sign up for upcoming trips on the website and learn more about the places that they want to go to. The biggest fundraiser for the trip was the student-faculty basketball game and many others such as holding a bake sale and flea market.
Costa Rica will be a 10 day trip with activities such as visiting farms, hiking, kayaking and many more. Prior to attending the trip, students were assigned a mandatory presentation report about a specific topic regarding Costa Rica. Students will also be expected to bring journals to document their experiences and what they will learn on the trip. There have been multiple meetings with the students and their guardians with questions and important information that needed to be addressed beforehand. Students needed to bring special gear such as headlamps and biodegradable soap.
Campbell has traveled with students three times already on other trips. What prompted her to go to Costa Rica was how “educational, active and exciting” it would be to go, especially since it is warm. She is thrilled to go kayaking at the base of a volcano. While on the trip, the students will be donating eight boxes of school supplies to a school there.
A majority of the students attending are seniors with a few underclassman. Senior Salma Bezzat attended last year’s spring trip to Italy and recalled having a wonderful time. This led her “eager to go again [her] senior year.” Bezzat is excited to “go white water rafting” and cross it off her bucket list. She is looking forward to “go visit the schools over there and donate the schools supplies and toys that [they have] donated.” Bezzat feels that traveling with other students will be more fulfilling. The students will also be joined by “another group of students and teachers from Georgia.” She is excited to meet new people and make new memories.
Bezzat states that “this is a one of a kind club” because of the opportunity it provides for students at Malden High that many other schools do not have. She says it is “one of the most memorable and influential clubs at Malden High,” and is “proud to say that this club is active at [Malden] high school, and [she] also recommend everyone to join it.”
Senior Paige Pimental is also attending the Costa Rica trip. She went to Puerto Rico a few years ago with Jones and Campbell and had a great time which prompted her to go to Costa Rica. She wanted to go on this trip because it would be longer and she would be able to do more active work. She is looking forward to seeing a volcano and after that they will be able to swim in the hot springs which Pimental finds “really cool.” Pimental likes that she is able to ”build bonds with people [she] normally [would not] in the school” and even with her friends after the trip is over.
Faculty members Cara Joyce and Jo-Ann Cassidy will be leading the 2021 April trip to Panama. Cassidy and Joyce mainly chose this trip because it was more accessible to students who wanted to go on a trip. Joyce is excited to be traveling with students and to travel outside of the US. The trip will last eight days and include activities like visiting a pineapple farm, hiking, boat rides, going to monkey island, and many more activities.
To sign up for upcoming trips, visit https://tornadotravelers.weebly.com/ for more information.
