LIVERMORE FALLS – SAD 36 directors unanimously approved a high school humanities trip in April to New York. The board also pledged $1,500 out of discretionary funds to support transportation costs at its meeting Thursday.
The Humanities Seminar Series, created 10 years ago, is offered by interested Livermore Falls High School faculty who want to provide an opportunity for students to gain knowledge and experiences that will enrich their love of learning and culminate with a trip to New York City, according to information provided to the school board.
Staff members on the Humanities Team are Sandra Hoyt, Susan St. Pierre, Cathi Howell, Amy Druzba and Anne Weatherbee.
The team was not at the meeting to ask for money to support the $2,600 chartered bus trip for the 15 or so hours of travel time to the New York theater.
They were there to ask permission, as required, to take students out of state, Hoyt said.
“I was overwhelmed; I was shocked,” Hoyt said Friday, of the board’s generosity. “We didn’t ask for money.”
Three of the board members, Denise Rodzen, Jackie Knight and Elaine Smith also donated either all or part of their board stipends to offset the cost of the trip for students, Hoyt said.
Those contributions and some from the business community mean the students don’t have to pay a fee for transportation, which usually averages about $15 on top of the cost of the tickets. The team also buys instructional material for a series of seminars students need to participate in to be able to go.
This year the tickets cost $65. Students also are responsible to pay for their meals and souvenirs during the 24-hour trip.
There are a couple of scholarships available for students who cannot afford the cost of the trip, she said.
There are 41 students and 14 adults who have signed up for the trip April 28-29 to see “Fiddler on the Roof,” Hoyt said. Eight of those adults are chaperones and the remainder are people interested in going.
Students are required to sign and fulfill a contract to be eligible to go on the trip.
Attendance at five seminar sessions is mandatory for students. Those seminars leading up to the trip include reviewing literature, history, religious tradition, music and theater of the “Fiddler on the Roof,” and planning the trip.
Over the past decade, Hoyt said, they have taken 350 to 400 students on these trips.
“It’s just so exciting to do that,” she said. “The community has been so supportive.”
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