St. Anthony School students visit the Capitol. Photo: Monica Landis
About the Author: Monica Landis is  mother of three from Columbus, Ohio. She works part-time with her husband and  is the Scrip (gift card fundraiser) coordinator for St. Anthony School. Her oldest started kindergarten at St. Anthony School in 1998 and her youngest will graduate from the 8th grade there this year. Her oldest son will be a senior at the University of Notre Dame in the fall and her daughter will be a junior at the University of Dayton. This was her third 8th grade class trip to Washington, DC. It was the second time that she organized the class and all of the fundraising and the first time that she was the trip coordinator.
The 8th graders at St. Anthony School in Columbus, Ohio look forward to the their class trip to Washington, DC. The trip is taken in the spring of their 8th grade year and the students look forward to it all year long. Some of the students have been anticipating this trip since kindergarten.
Ever since the first class trip many, many years ago, the parents have raised all of the money to pay for the entire trip. Over the years, the cost per traveler has increased. There are more fundraisers and it takes more work to coordinate this trip.
St. Anthony students capture the moment at the Lincoln Memorial. Photo: Monica LandisM
As parents get busier with work and other family obligations, our fundraisers struggle to bring in the money we need. The class of 2014 thought we were way ahead of the game since we had been organized and had started our fundraising projects during the 7 grade. We only have 18 students in the 8th grade class and only a few parents were able to chaperone. Our cost per student was not going to move out of the most expensive bracket.
In January, we were distressed to realize that we might not reach our goal.  We were hesitant to ask the parents to contribute a portion of their student’s trip cost. We felt that the parents who were not able to help with the fundraising would not be able to pay out-of-pocket. We discussed our concerns with our trip coordinator at Scholastica Travel, Mary Keto. She immediately discussed our options and helped us choose activities to substitute or eliminate to save money.
We made a few changes to our itinerary, revised our budget, and were able to relax as we finished our fundraising projects.
Each trip is unique. As a parent, this was my third class trip to Washington, DC. Even though we cut out some things that my oldest two children got to experience on their trips, there were some things available on this trip that their classes did not get to do.
We really appreciate all of the knowledge that Scholastica Travel provides during the planning process and on the trip.
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