Theater students’ NYC field trip is one of the first back-to-normal events

Carson’s theater students are thrilled to be visiting New York on May 28 as part of a field trip after two years of the COVID-19 pandemic.

While some students and families have had concerns regarding the pandemic, most have been very excited to be finally going on a field trip after being stuck at home for more than two years.

“There is still that worry of getting infected,” said Shrutika Suresh, a seventh-grade Trailblazer, “but if everyone is doing their part, we would still be able to have a great field trip experience.”

The trip will begin as approximately 50 students will board a charter bus at 5:30 a.m. The bus will drop the students and chaperones off at a studio where they will take part in a workshop with some of the cast members of one of the Broadway shows the students will be watching.

Vrishank Surakanti, an eighth-grader on the Yellow Jackets team said, “I am very excited to have a workshop with the Broadway performers from Hadestown because we get to learn their tactics for acting and singing.”

Following the workshop, students will be given time to shop at Times Square to buy souvenirs from the trip.

“I am excited about going to Times Square since I have never been there before,” said Surafel Demeke, an eighth-grade Explorer. “There are a lot of influencers there and you can meet a famous person at any moment as New York is a very high profile place.”

Students will then be watching the first of their two plays, “Hadestown”, after which they will have dinner at Hard Rock Cafe. At the restaurant, students will be able to pick and choose items from a fixed menu that they already paid for as part of the $334 fee for the trip. Lastly, students will watch “Come From Away,” the second of the two scheduled plays, concluding the end of their trip. 

As the COVID pandemic has not come to a complete end, it has also made an impact on this trip. In early January, the field trip had to be put on hold as a result of the rising Omicron cases leaving many students disappointed. 

“When the trip first got postponed, I felt mad because I had a special feeling like oh, the New York trip is coming up,” said Surafel, “but when the trip got postponed, that feeling kinda went away.”

However, as proof of vaccination is mandatory and students will be wearing masks in places that require it, students and teachers do not think there is any reason to be worried. 

“I’m not worried about the trip because if I was worried about it, I wouldn’t do it,” said Mr. Josh Bickford, theater teacher. “The students are all vaccinated and we’re going to be masked, so it doesn’t seem like something to be totally concerned about.”

After missing out on almost two years of their lives due to the pandemic, students are nothing but excited to go on this trip especially as it is something that they had been looking forward to ever since they first signed up for the elective. 

“I am really very excited since it has been a while since we’ve done something like this,” said Shrutika. “It’s amazing that we get this opportunity to learn more about what we started at the beginning of the year in a fun and educational way.”