Photos by Laura Hewitt
Lainie Kaseff relaxes after conquering part of the high ropes course.
The HBHA school trip calendar began with some unexpected turns to say the least. From having to reschedule the upper school’s trip to the Tucker Leadership Lab at William Jewell College to the adventurous eighth grade camping trip through the Ozark Mountains, HBHA students have many new stories to tell as the 2013-2014 school year progresses.
Tucker Leadership Lab, William Jewell College, Liberty, MO
Every year, the upper school takes a trip to the Tucker Leadership Lab at William Jewell College in Liberty, MO. The Tucker Leadership Lab traditionally takes place at the beginning of the year, it and serves as a team-building workshop by strengthening the bond within each grade-level class. The upper school splits up by grade and participates in various team building exercises both on the ground and in the air on high and low rope courses.
“I am excited for my third trip to Tucker,” said junior David Robinow. “It is one of many things that I look forward to at the beginning of every year and it is a good experience for my class.”
To the dismay of the upper school student body, multiple scheduling issues caused the popular Tucker experience to be cancelled three times. The original date for Tucker was Monday, Aug. 26, but was cancelled and rescheduled in honor of the unexpected deaths of two members of the Jewish community with strong connections to HBHA. Next the trip was rescheduled for Monday, Sept. 23, but due to a shortage of staff at the Tucker Leadership Lab itself, it was again rescheduled for Thursday, Oct. 31. On that date, the trip was cancelled another time because of the forecast significant thunderstorms threatened to limit the upper school’s participation on the ropes course.
At last, the Tucker trip successfully worked out, and on Friday, Nov. 15, upper school students were happy to at last be able to make the trip.
“I am so happy that we finally got to go to Tucker,” said sophomore Sam Matsil. “After being cancelled three times, I was not sure it was going to actually happen. However, we were finally able to go, and I had a lot of time hanging out with my classmates and the teachers that went.”
The senior class expressed grave concern over the threat of missing their final trip to Tucker, as they hoped to be able to conquer the infamous 50-foot tall “Outlook Tower,” also known as the highest point in Clay county and a tradition passed on to each graduating class. When eager HBHA seniors were finally presented with their chance, they were more than happy to take on the challenge.
Matthew Kavanaugh pulling himself up the Tower.
“I so happy that our class finally got the chance to go to Tucker, because we wanted to conquer the tower so bad[ly],” said senior Shani Solomon. “I am proud to say that everybody was successful in doing so and that it is one of the most exciting parts of senior year. We killed it!”
Ozark National Scenic Riverways: Current River Camping
On Tuesday, Oct. 22, the eighth grade took their second annual camping trip in the Ozark mountains. This year’s trip was staffed by Science Department Chair Cody Welton, General Music Teacher Nick Brown and Jewish Studies Teacher Zohar Flacks. The trip involved four days of hiking, bonding and enjoying the beauty the Current River. After receiving great reviews last year, the trip started out as planned and, for the most part, was thought to be enjoyable. The group soon faced trouble, however, when one of their canoes flipped leading to the injury of eighth-grade student Julia Paul. The three teachers staffing the trip quickly jumped into action helping to rescue the students that had capsized and securing the remaining members of the eighth grade class safely on shore.
Eighth grade student Jacob Bell said, “It was a scary moment when the canoe capsized, but it was a relief to see how quickly the teachers who were with us reached out to help us.”
Included in the most recent Taste of Shabbat was a “thank you” delivered by a representative of the eighth grade class to the teachers who went on the trip. The school responded with applause as they were thankful for the safe return of the eighth grade class.
“We are all very thankful to the teachers who went with us on the trip [and] for helping us not only on the river but after when we were all shaken up,” said eighth grade student Haidee Clauer. “Besides this one traumatic moment, my class enjoyed the trip overall and saw it as a great bonding experience.”
