Subscribe to the 100% free rdnewsNOW daily newsletter!

Disneyland trip on the table for latest 100 Men donation recipients

Jun 7, 2018 | 1:32 PM

A trip to ‘The Happiest Place on Earth’ is much closer to becoming reality for 17 local high school-aged students.

Teachers at the Red Deer Public Schools Alternative Education program are trying to raise $40,000 to ensure the 15 to 19-year-olds won’t have to pay a nickel to go to Disneyland this November.

This week, the group’s leadership trip was chosen by 100 Men Red Deer for its latest quarterly donation, which will amount to about $7,500.

Alternative Education teacher Bryan Burley says a trip like this, where leadership and science-based education will take place on site, is extra special to these students.

“We’re working with a group of students, most of whom have had challenging lives so far, so we’re working to create an opportunity for them to experience something they may not have before or get to do, which is travel abroad,” he says.

“All of the students who come to us do so because they haven’t been successful in a traditional high school. It might be due to economic challenges, it might be personal life choices they’ve made, it might be emotional and mental challenges such as anxiety.”

To raise funds, the group has previously participated in the highway clean-up, bottle drives, bake sales, and more recently a very successful garage sale.

“We’re excited that these 17 young men and women are getting the chance to do something they never thought they would do,” Burley concludes.

More information is on the Alternative School’s Facebook page.