Snowboarding, Skiing, and Tubing in Reno
By Karla Tapia & Osvaldo Herrera
For the second consecutive year, Mr. Truong planned a snowboarding trip to Reno, Nevada, where he (along with other staff) took a selected few of students to enjoy Reno and have fun in the snow. We (the students) spent three days and two nights in Reno and were able to stay at the Circus Circus Casino/Hotel. Before enjoying all of the fun and games, we needed to make sure we had fulfilled all of the requirements asked of by Mr. Truong. Since Mr. Troung could not take the entire school, he had to put requirements in order to narrow down the list of students. In order to go, we needed the following:
* Have no less than a 2.0 GPA
* No F’s
* No behavioral issues
* No detentions
* Attend all trip meetings
Once we met the requirements, we were one step closer to going to the trip. The snowboarding trip cost $150 for each of us wanting to go to the trip. This was not an expensive trip because through fund raising; by selling candy we could lower the price of the trip and pay less. Food was provided for us and the rental supplies were payed for with the $150 each of us paid. It was only our responsibility to bring extra money in case we wanted to spend money on anything else.
On February the 17th, everyone had to be at school before 9am in the morning; so everyone had to be ready, and had to come on time with all their things. As soon as the bus arrived to the school parking lot, most of the students going on the trip were all there with their bags packed and half asleep. All of the students and staff members were anxious to just get on the bus and go to Reno. The bus ride over to Reno was very interesting, which put the students and staffs patience to the test. We already knew that we were going to be seeing snow and for the first time for some.
Ashley Ornelas, one of the sophomore students that went to the trip said, “I decided to go to the Reno trip because I knew it would be really fun and I wanted to throw a snowball at Mr. Truong. What I enjoyed most of the trip was going tubing and having a snowball fight.” She added, “Thanks a lot for all the chaperons and Mr. Truong for organizing the trip.”
Ms. McCarty was one of the teachers who went on the trip. Karla Tapia asked her what her thoughts of the Reno trip were and she said, “I really enjoyed the Reno trip. It was a lot of fun to get to hang out in the snow. And, I had never been to Reno before, so it was a new experience for me.” When asked what she enjoyed doing the most on the trip she said, “I enjoyed playing in the snow (I went tubing) and hanging out with students in a non-academic context. You can get to know students at school, of course, but it’s not the same as going on a trip.” Ms. McCarty said that she would definitely go to Reno again. “I had a lot of fun, and the students seemed to have a good time too,” she said.
Osvaldo Herrera asked another student that attended the trip about his thoughts. Javier Chavez went on the snowboarding trip last year, and this year also. He said, “I enjoyed going on the trip last year and this year. It was going to be hella fun too.” Javier didn’t fundraise, he choose to pay for the trip himself. When I asked him what trip he liked better he answered, ” I liked this year’s cause I got to play Madden and cause the stay in Reno was longer.”
I got to ask Mr. Troung, one of the teachers that planned the trip about his thoughts of the trip. He stated, “I chose to plan this trip again cause last year’s trip was really fun, and this years was too. We chose to rent a bus this year, cause we were able to get a good deal from the company (San Jose Charters) because we knew the Bus Driver” (Osvaldo’s Dad). Mr. Troung said that last year’s trip was good, but this years was a lot better. “Last year’s trip was hard on the drivers, cause we had to be doing a lot of driving and we couldn’t really enjoy the time in the snow with the students.” Truong added, ” I hope I get the opportunity to do this trip again next year, and I think all of the teachers and students had a lot of fun and enjoyed themselves.” Mr. Troung also said, “Thank you to all of the parents and teachers for helping me out and to Mr. Herrera for driving us there and back safely.”
The trip was a great experience for everyone and hopefully Mr. Truong does this in the following years.
admin @ March 23, 2009