A lasting tradition for The O’Neal School is Class Trips. The Class Trip is defined as an excursion out of town with the students and teachers in your grade. Typically, it is overnight for three to five days, but not always. They are scheduled near the beginning of the school year and the main purpose is to provide an environment to encourage peer bonding as well as to strengthen relationships with advisors. The more a teacher knows about the student outside of the classroom, the better equipped they are to teach them.
Destinations along the East Coast are chosen in relation to the age of the students and the curriculum they will be covering through the school year. Though there have been some changes, the senior class travels to the mountains for whitewater rafting – typically in the Nantahala National Forest. Presently, the junior class focuses on college visits and a different group of colleges are chosen each year to visit. Prior to that, they traveled to Philadelphia and Washington DC as part of their US History curriculum. On occasion they’ve joined the seniors white water rafting. The sophomores frequented the Outer Banks for many years and then later changed their route and headed to Charleston. The freshmen and the seventh graders tend to travel to camps where trained advisors have them repelling, zip lining, canoeing, and participating in activities that encourage students to depend on one another to accomplish tasks. It is a standard that eighth grade travels to Washington, DC. In the early 2000’s even the fifth grade took five-day trips to Charleston. YIKES! Those times have changed and the fifth grade has a day experience and the sixth grade has a two to three day trip.
Records date back to 1974 for O’Neal Class Trips. This week in September is markedly the most memorable time for O’Neal students.
The pandemic has put a bump in the road. Last year, there were no class trips and this year, they were reduced to day trips. Nevertheless, the memories made and time spent with each other always shines through.
Falcons Fly to 50
O’Neal is excited to share its history with readers as it quickly nears its 50th year in educating and cultivating youth in becoming successful, effective contributors to communities large and small. The official celebration starts school year 2021/2022. This weekly blog will focus on different aspects of the School as it grew through the years. With every entry, there is just as much more information to gather than what is already written. Readers who have been a part of the O’Neal community are encouraged to reach out and share their O’Neal memories. It is with great hope that the efforts of many in contributing information and photography can be published into a book for reflection and reference as the School continues to prosper for the next 50 years.
Please send your memoirs and photos to:
The O’Neal School
c/o Kathy Taylor, Director of Communications
P.O. Box 290
Southern Pines, NC 28388
Email: ktaylor@onealschool.org