Sophomore class explores Mesa Verde, Moab, and more

The Sophomore class took a road trip to Moab for their biology class this past Wednesday to Sunday. The trip consisted of research for the class as well as many fun activities along the way.

For the first stop, in between Campion and Moab, the group explored Mesa Verde National Park where they took a tour of the Ancestral Puebloans’ homes on the cliff sides. “Seeing the ancient houses on cliffs at Balcony House made me astonished by how they built them. My favorite part of the trip was climbing the 30 foot ladder because I'm scared of heights but I did it anyways,” EJ Woy reflected.

On Friday, the students got the opportunity to raft down the Colorado River. The rafting company started right at their campsite and took them on a two-hour journey through the cold water and rapids. 

 “I loved getting to experience rafting because I had never gone before. Our tour guide, Turner, was very funny and made the experience even better,” Damaris Lopez commented; “My favorite part was when we went on the rapids and the waves came over the boat and splashed us. At one point, all of us in my raft jumped in the water. It was the cloudiest day when we went rafting, so the water was especially cold, but overall I loved it.”

As a part of the biology class, students were tasked in finding flowers, describing, and identifying them while hiking at William Grandstaff Canyon and Faux Falls. 

Noeli Hernandez added, “In Grandstaff Canyon and Faux Falls, we hiked in our biology study groups to write characteristics on plants we chose and take in the scenery. At the end of one hike, we found a beautiful flower we wanted to press. We took a lot of pictures of it and pressed it to dissect it in the lab when we got back.”

As a relaxing day away from classwork, the sophomore class took Saturday to visit Arches National Park. They went to Delicate Arch as well as Double Arch and some students even went to Landscape Arch. “It was a fun experience to be able to see God's creation and how unique the arches are,” Brayden Marroquin responded.

Marroquin went on to say, “The first hike we did was Delicate Arch which is in my opinion the coolest one. Toby and I ran half of it which was a fun experience looking back and seeing God's nature behind you. Moab was a great experience to get closer with friends and explore nature.”

Toby Quillin, Student News Team