On April 26, 50 Latin students traveled to New York City to attend the annual field trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Latin teacher Dr. Ralph Smith has been taking students on this trip for 14 years.

According to Smith, students were able to experience a one hour tour of the museum, guided by a member of the museum staff. Following the tour, students were permitted to explore any part of the museum that interested them. Junior Jack Edwards attended the trip and took a lot away from the experience.

“Personally, I really enjoyed the modern art,” Edwards said. “I’m used to seeing so much Renaissance art at museums so it was interesting to see something different.”

The purpose of the trip is to immerse students in the Greek and Roman culture that they study in class, for which the museum has both permanent collections and special exhibits.

“Students are usually impressed by the recently built (at a cost of $230,000,000) ancient Greek and Roman galleries,” Smith said. “They should leave not only stimulated by the ‘buzz’ of NYC, but also by immersion in an enormous collection of art and artifacts from one of the world’s great museums.”

English teacher Shawn Layton and Spanish teacher Blanca Varela also chaperoned the field trip and found the Metropolitan Museum of Art very informative.
“This was my third or fourth time taking the trip and I look forward to it every year,” Layton said.  “I think the kids are always amazing and every year I learn something new.”