By James Hanlon
Leader Staff Writer
Last month the Oxford School Board approved a trip to New York City for Oxford High School choir students. The trip is scheduled for May 25 to May 30, 2022.
“We have not traveled since COVID has hit us and we believe that we are now in a position where we are going to have the opportunity to do it safely,” said OHS choir teacher Leo Humbach.
“Instead of a performance, I like doing a workshop,” he said. “The reason being is that when we go to a destination like New York, I want the students to gain something instead of give something.”
In the workshop, students get to meet a Broadway star, practice a piece of music with them and ask questions about what it is like performing in the professional world. “To me, that’s an experience that you can’t erase.”
The students would then watch the star in a Broadway performance. “It’s really cool to see them on stage in front of thousands of people performing what we had just performed in the workshop.”
Humbach cautioned that the City of New York has a vaccine mandate in place. “We know this going into it. I spoke at length with (OHS Principal Steven) Wolf about it and we are going to be transparent with the parents about this,” he said.
The mandate expired at the end of October. “We don’t know if they are going to extended it, that being said, Memorial Day is almost a year from now and we don’t know what the world is going to look like a year from now. It could be different.”
The trip would cost between $1,100 to $2,000 per student, depending on the tour company chosen and hotel room size. Fundraisers will help students pay for the trip.
Two buses carrying 72 passengers would include a minimum of eight chaperones, two staff members and the rest would be students.