After weeks of planning and fingernail-biting, the time for Newsome’s Journalism and Yearbook students to travel to the big Apple finally came.

After a nearly 3 hour flight from Tampa International Airport to LaGuardia Airport, the students arrived, wide eyed, in New York, New York. The first day was spent taking in the sites and scenery. The highlight of the day being getting to see Times Square and having dinner at Trattoria Trecolori on 47th Street; followed by getting to see the Broadway musical, Wicked, at the Gershwin Theater.

The next morning, fun and games were over and students boarded the subways around 8 o’ clock in order to arrive at Columbia University by 9. There, the students attended workshops, received pamphlets, discussed their school paper and yearbook, and even got a glimpse of the yearbooks and newspapers of other schools, including ones from universities.

“The campus was so beautiful,” reminisces Isabel Castro, Senior, who is also on Yearbook staff. “We got a lot of pictures of all the buildings and stuff.”

Junior, and Reporter Stephanie Strickland claimed that she “could really picture herself going there,” and was “in love” with the campus.”

“We really learned a lot, especially about what we can and cannot do as student writers,” Strickland says, looking back on the trip. “The Investigative Reporting class and First Amendment workshop were my favorite.”

The Yearbook and Newspaper students attended writing, layout, and photography classes at Columbia University 3 of the 5 days that they were in New York.

After classes were over, the rest of the day was used to explore and enjoy the City That Never Sleeps. Major highlights included going to the top of the Empire State Building, getting to see MoMa and the 9/11 Memorial, walking the Brooklyn Bridge, shopping in Soho, relaxing in Central Park, touring NBC Studios, and exploring Chinatown and Little Italy. Students even got to catch a glimpse of the Statue of Liberty via ferry ride.

While there was lots of freedom on the trip, the students were accompanied by Mr. and Mrs. Govreau at all times during the trip.

When asked what her favorite part of the trip was, Senior and Newspaper Photographer Kaylalea Mendez said, “Definitely the shopping. That, and learning more about journalism at Columbia University was amazing.”

Students returned back home to Florida Saturday, March 20.