“Welcome to Newark Liberty International Airport. The current temperature is 56 degrees with slight gusts of winds and sunny skies.” said the pilot of the Southwest Flight 310 holding 50 seniors and 4 teachers on November 11th.

Parkway South has been traveling to New York City for the last 15 years and plan on continuing this trip for several years to come.  This year, 42 students, 40 seniors and 2 juniors were accompanied by four teachers who included Marketing teachers Lindsey Miller, Robert Bock, assistant Principal Corey Sink, and current curriculum coordinator for Career and Technology Programs, Amy Belding.  

Two groups were formed before arrival.  

21 students toured with Bock and Sink and the other 21 toured with Miller and Belding.  

Students arrived in New Jersey on November 11th and bussed in the New York City and stayed on 54th and Avenue of the Americas in the Hilton Hotel in Midtown.

Once students arrived they were escorted to the Lincoln Suite for an orientation about the trip and what each group will sightsee and tour on the trip.  

Wednesday night students got to attend “The Stage Door Tour” at Radio City Music Hall.  On the tour each student had the chance to meet one of the Rockette performers and have a question and answer session with her.

“I really enjoyed the tour especially the restrooms and the exclusive room,” said senior Alyssa Whiteaker.  

After attending “The Stage Door Tour” each group had the option to do what they pleased.  Some students went and explored Fifth Avenue full of shopping that included stores like Saks, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, FAO Schwarz, Tiffany’s and Bergdorf Goodman and many, many more shops.  

Other students explored Time Square which had many stores that included Madame Tussauds, Ripley’s Believe It or Not, American Eagle Outfitters, John’s Pizzeria, Junior’s Cheesecake, The Disney Store and many, many more.  

Wednesday night was a big night for students.  At 9 p.m. the groups went 102 stories up into the air and saw New York City in the Empire State Building.

“One thing that I enjoyed about the Empire State Building was looking at the busy life of human being.  It almost seemed as if I was looking at a snowglobe watching everything move slowly.  Horns are honking, lights are beaming and people endlessly rushing around. While standing up there the wind perpetually howling in my ears.  We were so high in the sky, it was so cool.” said senior, Grace Audiffred

On November 12, the two groups split up with their tour guides and went to The View and Dr. Oz.

“The View was phenomenal because we got to talk to Whoopi Goldberg, we got to see what goes on behind the scenes,” said Kara Alexander.  

As soon as the shows were complete Group A, who toured with Sink and Bock went to a fashion designer named Kenneth King who designed clothing for Elton John and a wide variety of famous people.  

More shopping was done after this seminar.  Kids explored Flatiron and Union Station.  Students went to Juicy Couture, Filene’s Basement, DSW, The Puma Store, Lucky Brand Jeans, and Nordstrom Rack.  

Thursday morning the groups met in the lobby and went their separate ways.  One group went to The Hat Shop owned by Linda Pegan.

After Linda Pegan students went to Sports Illustrated hosted by Alec Morrison and learned all about the ins and outs of magazine work and how it is all put together.  

“It was interesting at the Hat Shop when Linda told us that when Kim Kardashian wanted to visit her store she denied it because she didn’t want her product to become mainstream,” said Miller

Dorothy Shi Photography was next for Bock’s group.  At Shi Photography students got the chance to step into the modeling business and take professional pictures of models.  

Thursday night was a night out at the Winter Village of Rockefeller Center.  Students skated a the famous ice rink for a cheap price while others went and did some shopping.  

On Friday and Saturday, students went to SoHo and did shopping for the day.  Some of the stores included What Goes Around Comes Around, Kate’s Paperie, Betsey Johnson, Marc Jacobs, Nicole Miller, Brooklyn Industries, Kate Spade, UniQlo.

During the day on Saturday students experienced Freedom Tower, the main building of the reconstructed World Trade Center.  It is the sixth-tallest building in the world standing 110 stories tall.  Inside the elevator there is a 360 degree simulation that showed the development of New York over the years.     

“The view was breathtaking, the whole development of the tower was awesome.  At the top we could see all of New York and parts of New Jersey,” said Connor Donovan.

Saturday night both groups attended ‘The Christmas Spectacular Featuring the Rockettes.”  

“The show wasn’t what I expected.  The show had a story plot to it, and there was a lot of dancing and singing,” said Kara Alexander.

Sunday was the last day of shopping, and students boarded the airplane at 645 and arrived back in St. Louis shortly after 8p.m.

The total cost of this trip was around $1,495.  If you are interested in joining this trip next year please contact Mr. Bock or Ms. Miller.