By Madeline Skapper (IV) and Martha Lewand (IV)
On Wednesday, September 6, the sophomore class embarked on their Form IV trip to New York City to visit the American Museum of Natural History and view the award-winning Broadway musical, Groundhog Day.
Students travelled from Pingry to New York City by bus, where they would begin their day at the museum. Shortly after arriving, advisories competed in a scavenger hunt that took them to different exhibits throughout the museum.
The scavenger hunt had clues and riddles to find objects in different exhibits of the museum. The team or advisory with the most correct answers to the riddles received the highest amount of points, enabling them to place somewhere in the top three–provided that their team name was judged worthy. Once the entire grade gathered back together, the winners received their medals in a short ceremony and everyone headed off to lunch.
After lunch at the museum, the sophomores boarded their buses to see the Broadway play Groundhog Day at the August Wilson Theatre. Students were given tickets and sat with their advisory groups to watch the matinee performance of the show.
Groundhog Day, based on the 1993 movie of the same name, focuses on a weatherman named Phil Connors (Andy Karl), who travels to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania to cover the annual emergence of the groundhog. His exit from the town goes awry when all of the roads are blocked, and he is trapped in a blizzard. Waking up the next morning, he realizes he has been trapped in a constant loop of the same day. Through this ordeal, Phil gets to know associate TV producer Rita Hanson and learn the stories of the other people in the town. Through Phil’s struggle to finally get the day “right,” he grows as a character and gains a new perspective on life which would not have been possible without his tribulations on Groundhog Day.
After the performance, the students and teachers got back on the buses to return to Pingry. Overall, the sophomores enjoyed their day in New York City, reuniting with friends before the school year officially began.