Shelter In…Athens?
How the Coronavirus Has Affected Extracurricular Trips
Senior Molly Taylor makes pasta in last year’s Italian Cooking Cookie. Cookies has been cancelled this year, even if Parker reopens May 1.
On Tuesday, March 3, 18 students and three Upper School faculty members planned to depart for Athens, Greece, for the Platon School Model UN (PS-MUN) conference. Five days before the group of 21 was supposed to leave, Parker’s administration, advised by Nurse Anne Nelson, canceled the nine-day trip due to the outbreak of the coronavirus.
Upper School history teacher Kevin Conlon is an Upper School Model UN advisor alongside Jeanne Barr. Conlon, who was to go to Greece with the students, was looking forward to the trip. “I was very disappointed for the student delegates. It was going to be an amazing trip and experience for them and for me too,” Conlon said.
Just days after Parker made the decision to cancel the trip, in accordance with the Greek Ministry of Health, PS-MUN canceled the entire conference. This cancellation came the day that Parker was originally due to leave. “Who knows what would have happened if we did fly to Athens. I am glad we didn’t have to find out,” Conlon said.
Junior Gabe Wrubel was to attend PS-MUN in Athens. “I was really looking forward to the trip,” Wrubel said. “I put a lot of work into preparing for the conference but of course understand why it couldn’t take place.”
Like the group that was headed to Athens, on March 26, the group that was supposed to go on the annual Civil Rights Trip that occurs during Cookies couldn’t go. Each year, this trip is led by Upper School history teacher and Department Co-Chair Andrew Bigelow and Upper School English teacher Theresa Collins. The two teachers and 23 students planned to spend a long weekend in Alabama to learn about the state’s history and its lasting impact.
The Civil Rights Trip switches off each year between spending Cookies in Alabama and in spending time in Tennessee and Mississippi. The trip usually attracts students from Bigelow’s Civil Rights and Collins’ Race, Class, and Gender classes.
In the last few years, there have been waitlists for the trip. According to Bigelow, this year’s trip was almost all seniors, due to the fact that many applied for the trip last year and were unable to go due to overwhelming interest.
Although the cancelation of the trip will not greatly impact Bigelow’s curriculum, he is upset that the group will no longer get to spend time in different cities as planned. “It is really sad and a bummer that this trip was canceled,” Bigelow said. “What I am really bummed about is that we had such an exceptional group of kids who signed up to go this year.”
In addition to these two trips canceled due to the outbreak of the coronavirus, the seventh and eighth grade trip to Costa Rica during spring break is no longer occurring. The school wants to be cautious and is also following the guidelines of public health officials. In addition, a Cookies trip to New Mexico was postponed.
Senior Adele Lowitz was signed up for the Civil Rights Trip in Alabama and is upset that it will no longer occur. “I’m really sad that the trip got canceled, although I know it was necessary. I was excited to travel to Alabama, especially because Mr. Bigelow and Ms. Collins were clearly so passionate about the trip,” Lowitz said.
Along with various trip cancellations, all sports and extracurriculars have been put on hold for the time being. “These are unprecedented times, and it has meant putting a lot on pause. But we will look back on this and appreciate ‘normalcy’ more,” Conlon said.
