Rain Can’t Hamper Freshmen Trip

by Elie Benedek (’20)

This past Thursday was the annual 9th grade end-of-year trip. Due to the rainstorms, the originally planed Whitewater Rafting trip was quickly rescheduled to a day jam packed with indoor fun. After davening and breakfast, everyone piled onto the coach buses that took us to the first destination.

The first stop on the trip was IT Adventure Ropes Course in New Haven, Connecticut. Some of the many features are tight ropes, balance beams, and a catwalk connecting the two separate structures. Another way to get across was a whole array of ziplines, including one that goes over a beautiful fountain. At the end of the course, the adventurers had the choice of either taking the steps down, or if feeling especially courageous, go to the top and jump 50 feet to the ground! It was an exhilarating way to start of the trip. After lunch, everyone piled back onto the buses to the second stop, Rockin’ Jump.

At Rockin’ Jump, a trampoline park, there was a whole variety of activities; dodgeball, jousting, an obstacle course, 2 basketball hoops, and just plain jumping. One of the highlights was watching Rabbi Green trying and succeeding at bouncing on his back and rising up to slam dunk the ball. After Mincha, the boys headed off to the final leg of the trip.

The last destination was the Connecticut Sportsplex. There was a multitude of activities to choose from. There was soccer or football on the turf field, laser tag, an arcade, and whirly ball (lacrosse on bumper cars). After an amazing chinese dinner, everyone got on their respective buses to take them back to their communities.

Thank you to Rabbi Cohn, Rabbi Pearl, Rabbi Kessel, and Rabbi Richter for coming along and making the trip even more memorable. A big thank you to Rabbi Green and Elie Hirt for working hard to reschedule everything after the sudden cancellation. It was an awesome trip that everyone is going to remember for years to come.