On Wednesday, October 4th, the senior class went on the annual trip to Rock Island. Beginning their day at 6:30 am, the seniors all got on the school bus and made their way up to Gills Rock. They took the ferry to Washington Island, and from there, packed onto a small boat which they then took up to Rock Island, the north-most point of Door County.
Every year, high school English teacher Heather Spetz makes a point of taking the seniors on this trip. The class was surprised with a variety of donuts for breakfast, as well as hot coffee and chocolate milk (all donated by Tadych’s MarketPlace Foods). After a hearty meal, the students presented their skit interpretations of Beowulf, assigned class read, in the Rock Island Boathouse. Naturally, a cookout lunch followed. Burgers and brats were cooked to perfection thanks to Mr. Matthew Schopf (senior Alaina Schopf’s dad) and Mr. Tony Smith (bus driver) as the class enjoyed playing football and soccer. Senior Drake Olsen even said
“ My favorite part of the trip was honestly the food, Mathew brought his A game.”
Oliver Mathews added on saying,
“My favorite part of Rock Island was playing football with Mr. Schaefer.”
There was time for an optional hike around the island (five miles), which many students took part in, while others took a dip in chilly Lake Michigan.
“My favorite part of the trip was the hike around the island. We saw so much and got to spend some time skipping stones on the lake.” Said Logan Filar about his experience.
S’mores and a bonfire wrapped up the day as the class had some laughs over shared memories from high school.
In an interview, Mrs. Spetz responded to the question of what her favorite part of the trip was.
“My favorite part was watching the kids perform. This year’s groups were really entertaining, especially Inho (Lee’s) group.” She continued, “There was great acting with that group in particular, but also others as well.”
Spetz included that these trips “bring out the best in the kids,” which she loves.
Having greatly enjoyed the reactions of long-term substitute Mrs. Stuebi, high school principal Mr. Schaefer, Mr. Schopf and Mr. Smith, to the trip and the performances, Spetz said these reactions “reaffirmed her love for the trip.”
As Mr. Tony Smith said, “It was the best educational bang for (his) buck that he had ever seen.”
Having taken over the trip from former American Literature teacher Linda Thompson, who taught here for 40 years, Mrs. Spetz made it her goal to continue with Tompson’s “hands-on” learning style with this trip. Spetz emphasized that Linda Thompson started this trip, and her goal was to just continue the tradition. This is Mrs. Spetz’s last year teaching at Sevastopol and she says she “hopes that (she) can encourage the next teacher to take over this trip as it is important to the kids and creates lifelong memories for them.”
All in all, the trip this year was another success. On behalf of the Class of 2024, thank you to the administration for allowing the trip to happen, the trip chaperones (Mr. Schopf, Mr. Smith, Mr. Schafer, and Mrs. Stuebi), and finally, a huge thank you to Mrs. Spetz for her continuous hard work in planning this trip as well as all she does not only for us, but for all of Sevastopol as well.