It took three days for 250 students to climb to new heights at the local adventure park.

On Nov. 17, 2022, 9th grade P.E., elective P.E. and journalism students traveled to the Virginia Beach Adventure Park for a field trip. 

“Field trips are important because they give people new experiences,” said freshman Natalie Ritz. 

The park offers a different variety of activities and courses that students were able to try during the trip, from basic to double black diamonds.

“I enjoyed the ziplines and seeing people attempt to complete the courses,” said freshman Kierston Haney.

Challenging oneself was just one of the many purposes of the course.

According to P.E. teacher Yolanda Boothe, she loved to see “the cooperation among the students, how they helped each other, how they encouraged each other and how much fun they had.” 

The adventure park tradition started seven years ago.

“At the adventure park, we can take a lot of students at the same time because they are up in the trees. It’s a lot of paperwork, it’s a lot of bookkeeping, collecting waivers, but the best part is when I see a kid overcome his fears. There’s a kid who’s afraid of heights, but he did it anyway. It’s nice to see that kind of kid overcome something because it feels like a million bucks,” said P.E. teacher Christine Thornton.

According to fellow teacher, Boothe, the students learn valuable life skills.

“One of our biggest things, our push this year, [was] about social emotion. To watch all the kids getting along,” said Boothe.