At Lake Highland, the opportunities students have are limitless. Although the majority of learning happens on our own campus, students are not restricted to a classroom in order for their minds to grow. Some of the most important and memorable experiences can happen off-campus. The field trips planned for the second semester will not only help students challenge themselves in new ways academically, but also help them in their future as well.
One major field trip this semester was the Freshman visit to the Orlando Shakes to watch Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. A major organizer of the trip, as well as one of the ninth-grade teachers of English Honors, is Mrs. Amanda Jones. Mrs. Jones worked on the text with her students for the first part of the second semester. One thing that separates this field trip from others is that it is not annual. The special event has not happened for quite a while, as Mrs. Jones recalls the last time the Orlando Shakespeare Theater put on the play was, “When they performed it in 2012.” This year’s Freshmen should consider themselves lucky, as it may be a long time before it is performed again here in Orlando.
In addition to the play being a rare occasion, it was also performed excellently. One benefit of a field trip is that students can gain entirely new perspectives on the subject being studied. Although students may gain a solid understanding of the topic by reading the text in class and analyzing the Early Modern English that Shakespeare wrote, watching professional actors immersing themselves in the play will surely help students gain a deeper understanding of the characters and an appreciation of the play in general. Indeed, Mrs. Jones finds these immersive experiences incredibly important as they are performed, “The way Shakespeare intended.”
Although William Shakespeare wrote Romeo and Juliet near the end of the 16th century, students were encouraged to connect the play to the modern world as well. An important topic discussed was the feud between the two main families in the text, the Capulets and the Montagues. In the story, Romeo is a Montague, and Juliet is a member of the Capulet family. This leads to complications in the story, as both of their families hate each other to the point that they are each other’s greatest enemies. After Juliet falls in love with Romeo in the play, she exclaims that her only love was, “[S]prung from her only hate!” (Shakespeare 1.5.137). However, upon deeper examination, one will realize that Shakespeare never actually revealed the reason why these two families are fighting. In fact, during the “actor talkback” after the performance, in which students could ask actors questions, a Freshman inquired about the source of their rivalry. One of the actors wisely replied that what likely happened is that the two families forgot what they were fighting about in the first place. Instead, the children of the families were taught to hate instead of learning why. The play also demonstrated how detrimental this hate can be, as many of the play’s main characters ended up dead by the end of the play. In the end, the families were able to end their rivalry, crushing their hate because of how harmful it was. These themes of hatred being taught and causing too much harm can easily be applied to today’s world and teach an important message. As Mrs. Jones said, hopefully this field trip will, “Help [Lake Highland’s] students look at Shakespeare as something that is relevant to our time.”
Although the play contains complex themes, Shakespeare specifically made sure the play was appealing to all audiences through exciting fights filled with violence and the struggles of forbidden love. These scenes were often highlights of reading the play for Freshman students. When asked about their favorite part of the play, Ameya Pathak, grade 9, said it was, “Probably…the fight where Tybalt dies.” In this fight, there is a lot of swordfighting and tension between two characters, with one of them ending up dead. The character who dies, Tybalt, was seen as a villain, so perhaps some Freshman see this as a victory for good over evil. However, Sohum Mondal, grade 9, said the most entertaining part for him was, “When Romeo died.” This scene is even more dramatic, as it begins with a swordfight between Romeo, Juliet’s true lover, and Paris, who she doesn’t really love. After Romeo defeats Paris, he mistakenly thinks Juliet is dead. In the end, he drinks a vial of poison “to [his] love” to demonstrate how much he loves her and how he will die just to be with her. (Shakespeare 5.3.120). With its dramatic swordfight yet complex and emotional themes, this scene would appeal to anyone. The play, overall, does an excellent job of balancing out mature and complex themes with exciting fights and appealing concepts.
Although the play caused students to miss a large chunk of the school day, the trip was planned out very well and was very efficient, which helped students get back to their classes on time. The trip occurred right after the first period and finished in time for students to return to sixth period. Unfortunately, students missed second and third period as well as lunch, but boxed lunches were provided for students paying for a FLIK dining plan. There were conflicting opinions on whether missing the second and third periods was worth it. Although Sohum Mondal thought it was worth it for the learning experience, Ameya Pathak said, “[his] teachers [were] not going to be happy.” However, when considering the benefits and opportunities field trips can offer, they are almost always worth missing a few classes for.
The Freshman field trip to Romeo and Juliet was a major success, and there are plenty of additional field trips in the second semester that will help students in unique ways. At Lake Highland, students’ futures and their college plans are very important, and the Sophomore college tours and Junior job shadow trips will certainly help them prepare for their future. Sophomores will be able to tour colleges and find schools that stand out to them, while Juniors will be able to take things a step further and potentially figure out their dream job. In contrast, Seniors will get to rest and take a well-deserved break on the annual Senior trip near the end of the year to the Bahamas while Freshmen will get to have fun on their field trip to Universal Studios. Whether they help students learn concepts in entirely new perspectives, help them prepare for life after Lake Highland, or simply allow them to relax and have fun, field trips allow students to do things that they would never normally get to do in the classroom.
