TGE Trip 2018 – Day 5 8/24 – Part 1
Today, August 24th, we headed too Two Rivers Mall for this year’s academic incentive trip. To be included in the trip, the kids needed to have improved their academic standing, year over year, by at least one point. Last year, TGE was able to take 14 kids on a trip to the safari park. This, year we got to take 22 kids! And for next year, we are hoping that we will be able to take 30. Susan and Drew came up with the idea for this trip and they hope that by seeing the other kids go and not being able to go themselves, that the other kids will be motivated to improve their grades so that they can attend next year.
At Two River’s Mall there is a small theme park with rides and water activities. Many of the kids have never experienced anything like this and as luck would have it the park was empty when we arrived so the kids got to really enjoy the park. The drop zone ride caused the most apprehension among the group, by far, but every single kid went on it at least once! The biggest hit was definitely the water park area, even though it wasn’t a very warm day. The kids made the most of every moment and their faces were always smiling.
After a few hours of hard play in the park, we adjourned for lunch. We had a couple of treats for lunch including fried chicken and ice cream! It is so notable with treats like this how much more these kids value these indulgences and they savor them to the last drop. After lunch the manager offered each of the kids the opportunity to one more ride and you can bet they took her up on it!