Carver’s Annual Ski Trip has been around longer than the lifetimes of most of the high schoolers that attend this school. After over a decade of this enjoying this very beloved tradition of ours, late October of 2018, the School District of Philadelphia made the decision to cancel the ski trip. Questions that many from our community asked are “Why? Why now?” and “Is it permanent?” That is what we want to figure out. Hello, my name is Kamaljit Forbes and I am senior from George Washington Carver High School of Engineering and Science. Hello, my name is Majesty Mungen and I am a junior here at Carver. Hello, my name is Nasirah Bailey and I am a sophomore here at Carver. The three of us are students of Ms. Puntel’s third period journalism class and have come together to try and answer the questions that many E&S students and faculty have been asking. After we found out that the trip was cancelled, Kamaljit did an article on it titled Annual Carver Ski Trip: Cancelled?!. We then heard that Central High School still had permission to go on their ski trip, which is for juniors. The saved date on their school website confirmed this. Now the question is obvious: “Why does Central get to have their ski trip, but we can’t?” On January 10th, Ms. Puntel filed a Right To Know request to the school district regarding anything related to ski trips. They asked for a thirty day extension and on February 13th, we received many emails that were for the most part redacted. On January 24th, fourteen days after the first Right to Know request was sent off, Ms. Puntel requested a second Right To Know request. This was the day she heard that Central’s Ski Trip was cancelled. This second request was denied but never appealed. Later we found out that Central’s Ski Trip was back on, set for March 15th, 2019.

Rania and Farrah provided us with a picture of the ski trip flyer and a Google Classroom Screenshot as evidence. The flyer reads,

“Dear Parent/ Guardian of 279 Student,

We would like to wish everyone a happy, safe, and prosperous New Year. Students from the Junior (279) class at Central High School will be offered the unique opportunity to participate in a full day of Skiing and Snowboarding at Jack Frost Big Boulder in Lake Harmony, PA. This event affords members of our class the opportunity to socially interact with their peers and participate in a lifetime physical activity that will enhance their maturation as students. The Junior class trip will also create long lasting memories that students will cherish forever. All students are required to attend an assembly led by a certified ski instructor prior to the trip.”

With this information we knew that we needed to get answers from someone. We tried to contact everyone who was even mentioned in the emails which included…

• Riccardo M. Zucaro, the School District of Philadelphia Director of Risk Management
• James Lynch, the School District of Philadelphia Executive Director of Athletics
• Uri Monson, the Chief Financial Officer at The School District of Philadelphia
• Christopher Frank, the National Honor Society Sponsor from Northeast High School
• Omar F. Crowder, the Principal of Northeast High School
• Gina Hubbard , the Principal of Joseph J. Greenberg Elementary
• Ted Domers, the Principal of George Washington Carver High School of Engineering and Science

… and more. However we had many failed attempts of getting in touch with people.

And when we did get the chance to talk with people, it wasn’t always the most groundbreaking news…

However, eventually, we got something.

To James Lynch, From Nasirah Bailey, Tuesday, March 19, 2019

“Hi i’m Nasirah Bailey from e&s high school i’m in a journalism class and me and a few other students were investigating the annual ski trip that certain schools have because we couldn’t help but notice it’s been cancelled, so we’ve been exercising our rights to know and we’ve been able to obtain some emails gathering some information. Your name happened to pop up a bunch we got that you were an executive director of athletics Actually the first email we retrieved was Riccardo Zucaro emailing you subjected as trip and sending error. so i just wanted to ask what, if you are willing to tell, information do you necessarily have regarding the Ski trip, if you could give me a call that would be great.”

To Nasirah Bailey, From James Lynch, Tuesday, March 19, 2019

“Hi Nasirah, Please contact our Chief Schools Officer, Dr. Shawn Bird for your requests.”

To Shawn Bird, From Nasirah Bailey, Wednesday, March 20, 2019

“Hello Dr.Shawn Bird, My name is Nasirah Bailey and I am a sophomore here at Carver. My partners, Kamaljit Forbes and Majesty Mungen and I are students of Ms. Puntel’s third period journalism class and have come together to try and answer the questions that many E&S students and faculty have been asking. What happened to our ski trip? After we found out that the ski trip was cancelled, Kamaljit did an article on it titled Annual Carver Ski Trip: Cancelled?!. Then we heard that Central High School still had permission to go on their ski trip, which is for juniors. The saved date on their school website confirmed this. Further, 11th graders at Carver spoke with 11th graders at Central who showed them copies of the flyer for the trip, scheduled for March 15th. So, Central went skiing, but as far as we know, no other school did. Now the question is obvious: “Why does Central get to have their ski trip, but we can’t?” James Lynch referred me to you yesterday via email about my requests.

We would like to talk with you on the phone. Tomorrow between 9:35-10:15 or Friday between 9:50-10:30. Are there any days or times that work for you?”

To Nasirah Bailey, From Shawn Bird, Wednesday, March 20, 2019

“You can have your ski trip. Ski trips were initially all declined due to liability insurance issues. We worked it out so that we can now approve ski trips that meet the following guidelines:

1) The trip must be at an approved location (i.e. Jack Frost) that has appropriate insurance. 2) Students must participate in training for safety. 3) The trip must be tied to physical education curriculum (this one is easy, because skiing incorporates many different skills taught in PE). 4) Students must wear helmets. 5) The trip must be a day trip.”

So, I guess this means the trip is back on… just not for this school year. It’s a little too late for that. But the question remains. Why was it cancelled in the first place?

We tried to reach many people, such as the Director of Risk Management at the School District of Philadelphia, Riccardo Zucaro, the Executive Director of Athletics of the School District of Philadelphia, James Lynch, the National Honor Society Sponsor of Northeast High School, Christopher Frank, the Principal of Northeast High School, Omar Crowder, the Principal of George Washington Carver High School of Engineering and Science, Ted Domers, the Principal of Joseph J. Greenberg Elementary, Gina Hubbard, the Chief Financial Officer at School District of Philadelphia, Uri Monson. In the end, we were left with many unanswered emails and conversations with secretaries. Getting answers as high school students is not an easy task, but we did our best and we got our beloved ski trip back.