High school enrichment trips highlighted; Gettysburg tour drew 54 students

High school administrators and teachers described a broad set of out‑of‑classroom enrichment experiences intended to extend classroom learning and expose students to colleges, culture and career fields.

David Domel, principal of Bethlehem Central High School, told the board the school runs a range of trips tied to curriculum and student interests, including New York City history tours, a Spanish Repertory Theater visit, a Fusion Latino Flamenco performance, college campus visits (Sage and Hudson Valley), Science Olympiad support trips, an upcoming Montreal trip and in‑school performances such as Macbeth.

Domel highlighted a recent two‑day Gettysburg trip led by social studies teacher Anthony Wilson. Wilson said he opened the trip to five of his classes and that 54 students rode the bus after a lottery because the coach had 55 seats. He described the trip as highly immersive and said having students walk the battlefield and sit at key locations makes the lesson more memorable than classroom instruction alone: "You're never gonna really remember what I say in class, but they're gonna remember sitting there on that few minutes on that battlefield," Wilson said.

Domel said transportation is the largest cost component and that the school tries to offset expenses so students with financial need can attend: "We never—there's never a trip that if there's a fiscal issue and they want to go, they go," he said. Staff explained that building and department funds are used to reduce student costs and that trip funding is balanced against other priorities.

Student Senate treasurer Jake Soka reported student government is planning the winter ball for Feb. 8 and said there were no current concerns from Student Senate; other student and board speakers thanked staff for organizing trips.

No formal board action was taken on enrichment programming at the meeting.