Students raise funds for trip to Washington, D.C.

A special benefit dinner and auction is slated for Sisters High School Commons this Saturday night, February 9. The event will raise funds for Sisters Middle School seventh and eighth graders who are going on an eight-day trip to New York, Philadelphia and Washington D.C. this summer.

Auction previewing starts at 5 p.m., with the silent auction at 6 p.m. A spaghetti dinner is planned for 7 p.m., with the live auction following. Blazer tickets, Duck tickets, a Breedlove guitar and an Aspen Lakes golf and dinner package are a few of many items to be auctioned. A 50/50 raffle will also be held.

Admission, including dinner, is $10 for adults, $7.50 for students and seniors and $35 for a family of four. There is no charge for children five and under. Tickets may be purchased at the Hitchin' Post and Sisters Coffee Company.

Auction only admission will be available at the door for $5, as will dinner tickets as long as supplies last.

Although the trip is not sponsored by the school district, it is being organized by three Sisters Middle School teachers, as well as several interested parents.

"Several of our teachers are leading the trip. Just to be clear, the school and district is not sponsoring the trip, it is a private company," said middle school principal Kathy Miner.

The three teachers, Justin Nicklous, Megan Schoenecker and Paul Patton, will all accompany students on the trip. Some parent volunteers may also go along.

To date 33 students have registered to go on the trip. According to Nicklous, the trip was made available to all Sisters Middle School seventh and eighth graders.

"It was simply based on the students and their parents' desire to send them and obviously the cost, because the school district is not providing any financial support," he said. "It is up to the individual student and parent to raise the money."

The group will leave the evening of June 16 and travel to New York City.

"We're going to spend a couple of days in New York City and see the highlights of that - Ground Zero, the Statue of Liberty, Rockefeller Center, the Broadway play 'Wicked' (the untold story of the witches of Oz)," Nicklous said.

The group will then travel to Philadelphia and students will visit the Amish countryside.

From Philadelphia students will go to Washington D.C. and tour the Smithsonian Museum, the White House and all of Washington's major monuments. A highlight of the Washington stay will be a special ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery.

"Our group has been chosen to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in an official Army ceremony. Three kids and one staff member will be chosen to represent our school in that ceremony," said Nicklous. "That's pretty exciting for the kids."

In addition to Saturday night's benefit dinner and auction, students have also sold calendars featuring Oregon and the United States to raise money for the trip. The students have mailed sponsor letters to family and friends to solicit funds.

For more information or to contribute, contact Karen Cole, auction chairman, at 948-7582.