Prefect Council organized a day trip to Disneyland for the Class of 2024 during a Flex Day on Feb. 2. Nearly 200 sopho- mores roamed Disneyland Park.

Sophomore Prefect Nyla Shelton ’24 said the council’s main goal in planning the trip was to make up for the two an- nual theme park excursions that the current sophomore class had to forgo as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Due to COVID-19, both the [eighth grade] Six Flags [Magic Mountain] and [ninth grade] Disneyland trips were canceled for current sophomores,” Shel-

ton said. “In scheduling this Disneyland trip, we hoped to create the opportunity for soph- omores to make up for the loss of these trips and have a great time bonding with the grade. Not only did a large majority of the grade attend, but everyone I’ve spoken to has said they had a great time.”

To protect the school com- munity, Prefect Council request- ed that students stay home if they experienced COVID-19 symptoms on the morning of the trip.

Savannah Mashian ’24 said the students’ opportunity to ex- plore the park together made the day more enjoyable.

“My favorite part about the trip was all the rides I got to go on and all the memories I made with my friends,” Mashian said. “It was definitely a good bond- ing experience and a great way to spend a Flex Day.”

Jacob Lutsky ’24 said the trip was a great bonding experience for the grade because it led his classmates to spend time with one another outside of school.

“I usually hate roller coasters, but I ended up going on some of them with my friends, and they ended up being super fun, [especially] Thunder Mountain and [the] Matterhorn Bobsleds,” Lutsky said. “I got to hang out with a bunch of my friends’ friends, which was nice.”

Lutsky said he considers the trip a success, and he said he appreciates the effort Prefect Council put into planning it.

“It was a really nice way to just forget about all the stress we have with school and go have free-ranged fun for a little while, especially because often the amount of [schoolwork] we have prevents us from doing activities like that regularly,” Lutsky said.

Isaac Tiu ’24, who entered the school in ninth grade, said the trip provided a meaningful way to bond with his peers.

“Being a new student to a fully online school was under- standably difficult, even more so because of the school trips we missed,” Tiu said.