Fall high school trips were canceled last spring due to COVID-19.

Usually, high school students go on their week-long trips in the first week of October.

The freshmen go to San Francisco, sophomores to Greenhorn Ranch in Quincy and juniors and seniors to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) in Ashland, Oregon.

These trips will likely not be possible in the spring, Head of High School Brooke Wells said.

The San Francisco trip for freshmen requires a lot of booking in advance for the hostel, and Wells doesn’t think staying overnight in a hostel would be a safe option for students.

The Greenhorn Ranch shut down in spring due to the pandemic, opened up during summer and has shut down once again. 

“There’s no telling when the ranch will open up again, so we can’t count on that,” Wells said.

English teacher Jane Bauman said that the OSF canceled its entire season, which usually runs from February to October.

“The OSF is the best repertory theater on the West Coast,” Bauman said. “It produces 10 or 11 plays a season, including three or four Shakespeare plays. Naturally, the plays tie into our curriculum.” 

Wells said the likelihood of having overnight trips, where students would stay in close proximity, is very unlikely.

“It is possible that we might do some other trips in spring,” Wells said. “The ideal plan would be that if, following AP exams, things have cleared up, students can choose from a couple of off-campus activities.”

Biology teacher Kellie Whited, along with Wells, plans the junior-senior trip. 

Whited said that the OSF and the town of Ashland have suffered greatly financially as a result of COVID-19, and she can’t wait to return and watch some plays to support them.

“I have absolutely no idea what the rest of the year will bring,” Whited said. “We’d love to reschedule the class trips and only time will tell if that will be possible.”

— By Arikta Trivedi

Originally published in the Oct. 20 edition of the Octagon.