The East Side Fall Foliage Experience
By Billie Ye
East Side has a tradition of organizing a trip called Fall Foliage every October. On October 17th, 100 East Side students from grades 8 to 12 participated. Mark Federman, East Side’s principal, explained the goals of the trip and why it’s so important for our community. Mark said the trip is designed “to get kids to go outside and do fun activities like hiking, walking and getting out of the city”.
The bus journeyed from East Side all the way to New Jersey, where our first stop was Saint Elizabeth College. Once we arrived, we were seated in a spacious auditorium. The staff began by giving an overview about the college history, highlighting its academic success and its community engagement. They emphasized the opportunities offered from liberal arts, medical programs, and business, which interested many people. We saw the dorms, catering area, gym, gaming lounge, classes, laboratory, and campus area. Through this they highlighted the academic support such as small classes so everyone can receive more personal learning. My favorite being the walk around, as looking at what campus life was interested me.
Afterwards we got on the bus and went to Stony Hill Farm Market. During our stay there we went to the corn maze and apple picking. Once we got there we all had to go through a corn maze, which was challenging due to the fact that it was huge and many different routes to go. It took me an hour in order to get to the end, after that we all got bags to put our apples, and then went to go apple picking. The apples there ranged from fuji, ginger gold, green apples, gala apples, and many more. This experience was fun as it was interactive and a pleasant experience.
The bus departed at 7:30pm and we arrived at Six Flags at 8. We had 3 hours and 30 minutes to explore and have fun. Going from rides like El Toro to KingDaKa and the Haunted House, there were many rides which were even more fun at night. I personally got too scared of KingDaKa and didn't go, but I had gone on El Toro which was a thrilling experience, but it also hurt too. 11th grader, Davis Fox was on his first Fall Foliage trip. Six Flags was his favorite part, especially what I skipped, KingDaKa.
After a frightful night, we departed to the Museum of Arts in New Jersey. The experience was amazing as there was a huge outdoor space with huge art exhibitions and ponds with huge amounts of nature which amazed me. Mark said this was his favorite part because, “It was a new experience and a fun, interesting experience.” Once we got back to the East Side, I reflected on the moments in the past few days, my favorite being the six flags. The thrill during that night was amazing. I would give this trip a 10/10. I would highly recommend it again.