Every three years, high school social study teacher Steve Whitener organizes a Spring Break trip to New York City for Calvin students. These optional trips allow students to experience the big city in a safe and exciting way. For less than $2,000, students spend six days and five nights seeing the highlights of NYC. Travelers stay in Times Square and experience the best of the Big Apple.
This year, students were able to climb 338 steps into the crown of the Statue of Liberty, lunch where George Washington said goodbye to his Revolutionary War troops, attend worship services at Redeemer Presbyterian, tour the Lower Eastside Tenement Museum, walk the historic Brooklyn Bridge, explore the world class Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art, and American Museum of Natural History, to name of few of the adventures.
The look on students faces when they see Van Gogh's "Starry Night" and "George Washington Crossing the Delaware" is gratifying. Having seen in countless books, they are overwhelmed to see the real thing. We visit the Egyptian Temple of Dendur, see Henry VIII's battle armor, and explore entire Renaissance rooms brought over piece by piece from Europe– all in one afternoon. Students get plenty of time to explore museums on their own and create their own memories with their friends. Evenings are reserved for authentic Italian, Greek and Chinese meals and to attend Broadway shows. This year, we had orchestra seats for the incomparable Les Misérables. To hear high school boys say how they felt goosebumps during the show is high praise for the quality of the production. Another show was the revival of On the 20th Century with Broadway star Kristin Chenoweth. Students even got to meet her and get her autograph.
New York City for Spring Break at Calvin is a non-stop, world-class adventure. Students come back to California changed. They've experienced the best architecture, art and performances in the world, ate amazing meals, and been a part of one of the most exhilarating cities in the world. Hopefully they are inspired to excellence their entire lives.
