Over spring break, groups of students traveled all over the world! The Marist band traveled to New York City April 1-April 5, where they toured and performed. Spanish language students spent 10 days in Argentina! This was part of an exchange with Marist school Colegio Marista Champagnat, in Buenos Aires. There was also a group of students and staff that traveled to Ireland and Paris, France! All of our students and staff that traveled abroad this Spring Break had a fantastic time. We’re so fortunate to be able to allow our students these great opportunities!
Marist Band Heads to NYC
The band had a busy four days in New York City, arriving after a 14-hour drive from Marist to New York. Thanks to Band Director Andrew Creagh ’04, for providing us with a great band tour recap:
Monday, April 1 Drive to New York
The band students arrived at Marist by 1:00 p.m. We then loaded the buses, and began our 14 drive to New York. On the way, we stopped for dinner in an area with multiple fast food options for the students to spread out and choose their own meal. After that, we loaded the buses, and most students fell asleep while en route.
Tuesday, April 2
When we arrived in New York, we met our tour director, Scott Dworken. Scott did a great job throughout the week, and his help was much appreciated. We headed to Radio City Music Hall, where the students were broken up into 3 groups, and we given a tour of the facility. It was a very interesting and great tour since students were able to go to the backstage areas and even on the main stage.
After the Radio City Music Hall tours, we headed to midtown Manhattan, where the students were broken into smaller chaperone groups and ate in the area for lunch. Then, we boarded our buses and headed to the DiMenna Center for our Broadway Workshop.
The Broadway Workshop was wonderful! The students were led and directed by Ian Weinberger, who is the music director for Hamilton on Broadway. The students sight read and worked on “My Shot” from Hamilton. Mr. Weinberger did such a great job with the students, and was able to have them grow and stay engaged throughout the clinic. Then, we had one of the musicians from Hamilton come and rap and sing while the band played. It was a great experience for the kids!
After our clinic, we headed back to Rockefeller Center to look at the Top of the Rock, which is when the groups went up to the top of the building to view the city. However, with the rain and fog, it was a bit difficult to see overall. After that, headed to the Cutting Room, which was a rock and roll themed restaurant. We had the restaurant to ourselves, which was very nice. The students had a buffet-style meal.
Once we finished dinner, we boarded the coaches and headed to our hotel in Newark.
Wednesday, April 3
The kids woke up at 7:00 a.m. and had breakfast in the hotel at 8:00 a.m. Once we finished breakfast, we headed to Battery Park to go on the Staten Island Ferry. Again, the weather was rainy and foggy, so it was difficult to see, but the students made the best of it.
After the Ferry, we headed to the Financial District, in a large mall area, for the students to eat lunch. After lunch, we headed to the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. It was an extremely moving museum, and the students were able to have a lot of time to view the exhibits. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to do the One World Observatory due to the weather, and so after the memorial, we transferred to Chinatown for some free time in our smaller chaperone groups.
After some shopping and more rain, we had dinner at the House of Joy in Chinatown. Following dinner, we headed back to the hotel for lights out.
Thursday, April 4
The students woke up at 6:00 a.m. to prepare for hotel checkout and to prepare for breakfast. Once the chaperones inspected each room, the students were sent down by rooms for breakfast.
Once we checked out of the hotel, we headed to Manhattan to the Intrepid Air & Space Museum. We had an extensive security search through our instruments and equipment. After that, we set up on the flight deck to prepare for our performance. Once we set up, we performed the following music:
–Metrodance
-Russian Sailor’s Dance
–Jupiter
-Excerpts from Appalachian Spring
-Highlights from Jersey Boys
After our performance, we packed everything up, got changed on the buses, and had our boxed lunch at the Intrepid. Then, we toured the museum for about an hour.
Then, we headed to Times Square for some free time in our small chaperone groups. The students were able to do some last minute shopping. Then, we headed to Gayle’s on Broadway for our Broadway-themed dinner. At the dinner, the servers actually sang Broadway and movie music, so it was a very immersive experience.
Once we finished dinner, we headed to our Broadway show, Little Shop of Horrors. It was a GREAT performance, and the students really seemed to enjoy it. After the performance, we loaded the buses to head home. Once we got out of the city, we had the students change into their street clothes.
On the way home, either in New Jersey or Pennsylvania, our second bus had some minor malfunction issues. After an hour delay, we were back on the road. We unloaded the truck, and dismissed the kids around 2:00-2:30 p.m. or so.
The band was accompanied by parent chaperones and Band Director, Andrew Creagh ’04 and Assistant Band Director, Patrick Keelan ’04.
Below are some photos of the band performance on the USS Intrepid and the band working with Ian Weinberger, the Musical Director of Hamilton.
Spanish Language Students Travel to Buenos Aires, Argentina
In fall of 2023, Marist students and their families hosted students in an exchange program with a Marist school in Argentina. Over Spring Break, it was our students’ turn to travel to Buenos Aires, Argentina and experience life with their exchange students who attend Colegio Marista Champagnat. This school is located in the heart of Buenos Aires and is K-12. Here is a glimpse into their itinerary over the awesome 10 days!
3.27 – Arrival in B.A.; attend school with host students; home with hosts
3.28 – City tour
3.29 – Day with host family
3.30 – Day with host family
3.31 – Easter Sunday mass – With host families
4.1 – Excursion: Estancia El Ombú (this was a ranch about 2 hours outside of Buenos Aires)
4.2 – Day with host family
4.3 – Excursion: Colonia, Uruguay by boat. Rainy Day.
4.4 – School day, Marist student presentations. Presented on High School Life in the U.S. and Marist Chicago
4.5 – School day, return flight (leaving B.A. at 8:35 P.M.)
4.6 – Arrival in Chicago (11:05 A.M.)
The trip overall was a nice balance of excursions and immersing into the Argentinian lifestyle. Students were accompanied by Ms. Janlyn Auld and Dr. Corey Hahn. What an amazing experience not only for our Marist Chicago students to travel to Argentina, but to connect with so many other Marists!
Below are some photos of their trip:
Spring Break to Ireland and Paris
Marist students embarked on a 10 day trip to Ireland and Paris. They spent 5 nights in Ireland, staying in Cork, Killarney and Dublin and ended their trip with 4 nights in Paris, France. Here is a glimpse into some of the exciting things they did:
- Sightseeing at the Cliffs of Moher
- Ring of Kerry
- Killarney National Park
- Blarney Castle to view the Blarney Stone
- Hall of the Vicars Choral
- St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin
- Palace of Versailles in France
- Cooking Class in Paris
- Eiffel Tower
- Seine River cruise
- Louvre Museum
Another awesome 10 day experience for our students! They were accompanied by Mrs. Cozzie, Mr. Christensen ’97, Mr. Ryan ’01, Ms. McNaughton, and Mrs. Cox.
