NHS members tour New York City

by Brooke Maxson

Flashy lights, paparazzi, Central Park, and Times Square. What city do those images put in your mind? New York City, of course! On March 19-22, among the hundreds of thousands of people walking the streets of NYC was our very own National Honor Society members, along with chaperones. This trip was the perfect reward to the dedication showed by the NHS members throughout the year.

While in New York City, the NHS members and the parents had a great time visiting popular places, a lot of which have names that many of you will recognize. Some places that the members visited were Central Park, Times Square, Ellis Island, The Statue of Liberty, Chinatown, and mid-town Manhattan. I think it’s safe to say several of us would agree each of these places has its own magic. Even if you haven’t visited, the pictures show you a basic idea of what’s there.

Being high school students, a lot of us light up with the sound of the word “shopping.” Although we may have fun shopping in Adrian, Jackson, Toledo, and other relatively close places, many students that went on the trip agree that New York City beats all. “(My favorite was) shopping and Times Square because I like to shop,” commented junior Jocelyn Elarton. Many other students agreed that Times Square was their favorite place to visit and one reason for that is because of the countless shops everywhere you look. “I like Times Square because it’s the most popular place in the world and I got to eat at all sorts of cool restaurants and there’s ESPN and TVs in the bathrooms. I also liked the Toys R US store,” explained junior Tyler Wilson. “I liked Times Square because there’s a bunch of stores,” echoed junior Elainee Poling.

Another place a number of the NHS kids visited was the NBC store, which was full of items that reflected the shows on the NBC channel. “I like the Rockefeller Center because of the NBC store,” said junior Kayla Clark. One thing you will find if you ever decide to visit NYC is that several of the stores have more than one floor and therefore have escalators. In fact, the Toys R Us has three floors and in the middle stands a giant ferris wheel. “The ferris wheel at Toys R Us was surprising right there because it’s an amusement park ride in a store!” said an amazed Jocelyn.

Apart from the wonderful opportunity to shop til’ you dropped, an additional characteristic of NYC is that it’s full of beautiful scenery, all the way from Central Park to the heart of the city. “(What surprised me the most) was the sheer size of the buildings. When you get out, they’re just enormous,” said still-shocked junior Chloe Hepker. A very well-liked place for New Yorkers and tourists is the top of the rock observation deck, which gives its viewer a view of New York City in its entirety. “When we were on the top of the rock observation deck, I saw just how big the city was and how far it spread out,” said junior Caitlin Farley. “The top of the rock was my favorite. It was really cool; there was a great view,” explained senior Maggie Chisolm.

I can say with certainty that New York City has a lot to offer. People fall in love with different places in this city for different reasons. “My favorite was Broadway because I got to see a show. It was awesome; it was funny,” said Hepker. NYC is famous for its many Broadway shows, but it’s also famous for the huge art museum it holds, the Metropolitan Museum of Art (a.k.a. The Met). “I loved The Met. I enjoy looking at art,” said senior Jessica Beard.

NYC is also very interesting because of the people who have been there and the movies/TV shows that have been filmed there. “Thirty Rock was awesome because that’s where Saturday Night Live is filmed and all those big shows that I love. Those people have been there walking around, so that’s pretty cool,” said excited junior Derra Clark. A good share of the NHS members agreed that Chinatown was very interesting as well. We tend to find people interesting who are different from us and live differently than we do because we do live in this small town of Pittsford. Something else we aren’t very used to is bargaining with the people we buy from, which is exactly what happens very often in Chinatown. “I liked Chinatown because I got to barter,” explained junior Garet Lee. Many places in New York City are so popular because of their history and the learning you can gain from visiting those places. “Ellis Island has so much history there,” explained NHS advisor Trish Weaver.

Going into New York City for the first time calls for a little advice from people who have already been there. Things you may have heard about this place may or may not be true. No matter what, the things of NYC are bound to surprise first-time visitors, as they did for the students here on this trip. One of the first things several of the students who went into Toys R Us said was: “watch out for Geoffrey the Giraffe.” For those of you who don’t know, Geoffrey is the Toys R Us giraffe mascot. When the students said this, they were all referring to the time in which Clark Pelham picked on the guy dressed up as Geoffrey, so Geoffrey gave Clark the stare-down and followed him through the store. This is a funny story and all, but if you visit New York you’ll notice quickly that this city is a very interactive place. The NHS kids learned quickly that if they wanted to take a picture with someone dressed up as something on the street, they were expected to give a donation. “Don’t take pictures of Spiderman because he’ll want you to pay,” said Elainee.

As the stereotype goes, New York isn’t always the safest place. Because of this, security is high. “There was a SWAT team just standing on the corner,” said senior Clark Pelham. “What surprised me the most was the security for Geoffrey the Giraffe!” laughed Elainee. Crowds on the streets are also a major issue at times. “Walk fast and blend in,” advised Caitlin. Here in Pittsford we aren’t exposed to a lot of things that are out there in the world, including many homeless people all at once. “The hardest thing for me was to see the homeless people,” said Mrs. Weaver. “There were also no gas stations!” she added. A few people were surprised that all New Yorkers aren’t as rude as some people make them sound. “People are nicer than I thought they were going to be. I thought they were going to be really mean, but they were pretty kind,” said Beard.

The annual NHS trip this year was successful, a lot of fun, and a big learning experience at the same time. “The trip went very, very well overall. Everyone behaved and it was just a lot of fun,” explained Mrs. Weaver. Whether you plan on visiting NYC in the future or not, the NHS members will assure you that it’s worth your time. There are, of course, other things that the NHS members forgot to mention, including the fact that they all made it on national television on the CBS early show. If you want to see them having a great time with your own eyes, just ask to borrow the tape and watch it for yourself. All of their hard work and dedication to the National Honor Society was paid off in the end and as far as we know, everyone on the trip had a splendid time.