Takoma Park Middle School Florida trip cancelled

The Takoma Park Middle School annual field trip to Florida will be discontinued, according to Magnet coordinator Steven Degasperis. This year's trip, which students made in February, will be the last, and the Magnet program will select a new destination for future years.

For the past 21 years, 150 Takoma Park eighth graders have spent five days in Orlando, Florida, visiting sites such as St. Augustine, the Kennedy Space Center and the Animal Kingdom of Disney World and attending the Youth Education Series Seminars. But according to Magnet coordinator Steven Degasperis, the Florida trip did not adequately match the educational goals of the Magnet program. "We've been looking at the curriculum in the magnet and how the events we schedule fit in," he said. "We felt that [the Florida trip] wasn't a strong enough tie."

Out of the 150 spots on the Florida trip, 100 were reserved for the 100 eighth grade magnet students, with the other 50 spots filled by lottery. The new trip, however, will include only the Magnet students.

The team of Magnet teachers are discussing the various options for a replacement trip, "start with the educational point of view," said Degasperis. "We are trying to develop a capstone experience for the eighth graders that is meaningful."

Parents were notified of the decision to cancel the trip through a letter sent home with students in March. Donna Duquette, the mother of a seventh grader in the Magnet program, had one son previously attend the Florida trip. She said she is disappointed that her other son will not be able to attend the trip, but she is "confident that the school will come up with something that will equally be a good experience."