SCDS has an unofficial tradition of sending its graduating seniors to Disneyland for a memorable, hectic night in the “happiest place on earth.”
But what is usually a dream come true has become a fairy tale because of lack of interest in the event, Tuesday, June 11.
Though class parent Sue Johnson and parents Lisa Quattlebaum and Scarlett Talamantes tried to organize the trip, only a handful of seniors wanted to go.
In fact, the only students who did sign up were children of the parents who tried to make the trip happen.
The plan was for SCDS students to share a bus with students from Del Oro High in Rocklin.
So why the lack of interest this year?
Senior vice president Patrick Talamantes said the price was one deterrent, and another was class spirit.
The Disneyland tickets cost $75, while the bus cost $125.
“Our class is really unspirited and not together,” said senior Kamira Patel.
Aside from the price, some people weren’t interested in an amusement park, Patel said.
“I didn’t really want to do it because the schedule was weird,” she said.
To get to the park on time, students would have left at 1 a.m.
Another contributing factor was how late the event became official.
“Everyone wanted to wait to see who else was signing up,” said Patrick Talamantes. “People thought if they signed up, it was final.”
“If people had said ‘Yay, we’re going!’ then I would’ve gone,” Patel said.
Senior Ryan Ho was initially very enthusiastic about the trip.
“I’d kept reminders since last year that we needed to do this, and then I brought it up at senior meetings,” Ho said.
He said he had researched the trip far ahead of time and told classmates he would organize it before realizing there needed to be chaperones, and that they were the ones who signed the school up.
Scarlett Talamantes agreed with Ho that there needed to be more communication.
“I’m disappointed and frustrated that for a long-standing tradition there wasn’t a handoff of information from a parent from the last class and a parent from this class about a timeline and standard procedure for the trip,” she said. “I hope next year that exists.
“It would probably have been the last time that (the seniors) could be together in a safe party setting before they go off to pursue their opportunities. You never have an awareness that there’s a last time you see each other.”
Though Ho originally tried to build enthusiasm, he didn’t sign up in the end due to the lack of participation. Instead, he left Saturday, June 8, to go home to Taiwan.
