The Christian EducatorA publication of North Valley Baptist Schools

Chaperoning A Senior Trip

By Josh Nolan

Do you remember your senior trip?  Senior trips are awesome! The senior trip highlights a student’s years in high school. It is the icing on the cake. Students have been working the entire year to save money through countless fundraisers, and they have generated a buzz of excitement at school in anticipation of the trip of their lives. Apart from graduation, it is one of the last times a student is able to spend quality time with his entire class.

For the last three years, I have been able to chaperone our senior classes along with my wife and our principal.  We have had the opportunity to fly to Central America to explore the tropical land of Costa Rica.  Zip lining through the rain forest, white water rafting, and playing volleyball on the beaches of the Caribbean are just a few of the highlights.

Anyone who has ever chaperoned a trip understands it is not always a vacation.  For one, the trip is catered to the seniors, not the chaperones, and there is always the potential, in some groups, to do more babysitting than vacationing.  However, this trip can be an unforgettable experience for not only your seniors but for you, the chaperone.

Here is a brief guide of what I have learned from the past three years of chaperoning:

Prepare and conquer. Do your homework about the area to which you are going. Plan events and activities that are not available where you live. Conquer this trip.  Raise all necessary funds.  Make this trip unforgettable.

Line up the itinerary. Give students a structured schedule about what they need to bring/ wear/ etc.  Inform them of the activities they will be experiencing.  This provides excitement and motivation to raise funds.

Line up airfare and hotel accommodations. I recommend doing these three months in advance.

Get a guide. Depending on where you are going, a guide could be very helpful.  You do not want to run into any surprises.

Eat OUT! Plan at least one nice meal a day.

Plan activities. Cater the activities to your senior class.  Each class is different.

Go to church.

Set aside some Christian service. Our trips to Costa Rica have not been merely senior trips.  On the weekends, they became mission trips.  Find a way to serve while out.

Have devotions as a group every night. Use this time to challenge the seniors spiritually with what you experienced that day.

Talk with your seniors. Do not just jump in the middle of their conversations, but use this time on the trip to talk about their futures, hopes, and dreams.

Keep them safe. You are the chaperone for a reason.  On our first trip, we had a small incident.  One of our students was almost hit by a crazy Costa Rican driver, and I was able to push him out of the way. During my own high school senior trip, one of my friends went missing for over four hours!  Always be observing your surroundings.  Always be taking head counts!

Inform parents. Bro. Azzarello, our principal, was able to use a social networking website to inform parents of our every activity.  This proved to be very helpful while in a foreign country.

I have enjoyed these years of chaperoning senior trips.  I believe, by the response of the seniors who have gone, they have too.  Be a part of giving your students the memory of a lifetime.

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