Spanish Club gets okay for New York trip

Members of Gilford High School's Spanish Club had no problem securing the approval of the school board last evening for a four-day trip to New York.

The eleven students — all of whom have taken Spanish during their course of instruction at GHS — will be departing on Thursday, May 11 and returning on Sunday, May 14.

According to GHS principal Ken Wiswell the young travelers will travel by bus to and from the Big Apple — in effect eating up two of the four days scheduled.

Last evening's quick endorsement of the trip by the school board was in stark contrast to the discussion among board members regarding the request by the GHS Class of 2006 for permission to take their "Senior Trip" to Orlando.

Both board members Margo Weeks and Derek Tomlinson questioned the value of traveling 1,800 miles "to bond with a lot of strangers," as Weeks put it.

In responding to the Spanish Club request, however, Tomlinson observed that having read the itinerary, the trip "is something I see as action packed."

Board chair Paul Blandford noted that it seemed more of a sight-seeing trip than one devoted to education, with tours of Times Square, lower Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty among planned activities.

Blandford and Weeks agreed once again that the district needs to re-examine its travel policies for students to make certain they're consistent. "We need to look at this over the summer," Blandford said.