Setting Stone to Travel to New York

This March, members of Setting Stone, THS’s literary and creative arts club, will take a four-day trip to New York City to attend the Columbia Scholastic Press Association’s 92nd Annual Scholastic Convention.

The trip, led by Setting Stone advisors Matt Aerni and Clare Squance, will take eight students who will fly to New York on Tuesday, March 15 and return on Saturday, March 19.

The Convention, which lasts from March 16-18, is a “national gathering of secondary school student journalists and their advisors,” according to the CSPA’s website. Participants will be able to choose from 350 or more sessions, each of which will focus on newspapers, yearbooks, magazines, online media, video and broadcasting, or law and ethics. Though some sessions are reserved for advisors, many cater to both students and advisors.

Setting Stone first attended the Convention in 2006, attending every year until 2010. Its annual literary magazines have been honored multiple times in the past by the CSPA, picking up gold medals in 2009 and 2008, silver medals in 2010 and 2011, and a bronze medal in 2007.

Convention sessions will occupy each morning of the trip, leaving afternoons and evenings for sightseeing around the city. A detailed itinerary includes a broad range of activities, including a visit to the Museum of Modern Art and performances like the Broadway musical Fun Home and a concert by folk musician Anais Mitchell at the Lincoln Center. The group will also get to experience staples of a city routine, including street food and subway commutes.

Squance said she’s very excited to take the trip. “I feel like in the past when students have come back, they have been really energized to start implementing the things they’ve learned about, no matter what it is, whether it’s an evaluation tool or a fundraising idea. There’s just a really good energy that students bring back, and they share what they’ve learned about with the students who didn’t get to go, so it’s a nice way for students to educate each other,” she said.

She also said the trip serves as a good bonding tool, and has given her a new perspective on students. “It’s nice to see students in a different environment, because I so often just see people in the classroom for a very short time each day. I feel like I really learn about the students working with us and investing their time in the club.”

Senior Kelly Richmond will be among the students going on the trip, and she echoed that she was looking forward to it. “I’ve never been to New York before but I’ve always wanted to go, so this is a really cool opportunity,” she said. “I’m probably most excited for the MoMA.”

THS principal Tom York, stressed the value of learning beyond the classroom. “I think anytime we can enrich a student’s experience with trips such as this the results are immeasurable,” he said. “Students who are fortunate to go will always remember the experiences the trip afforded them. The day to day classroom work gets foggy over time but experiences last forever.”