by Sara Gerdy

For over twenty years, the Independent Living students have participated in an “in house field trip” as teacher, Mrs.Virginia Herring calls it. The students planned, set-up and executed a mock wedding every May.

This year, however, there will be no wedding. Many different things have caused the cancellation. First, according to Herring, Mr.Craig Burger, high school principal, has been trying to keep major events out of the month of May, and some people were beginning to express concern about overscheduling the last few weeks of class.

Also, Herring has one class which she says is full of some “senior boys with severe senioritis”, which isn’t necessary a bad thing but could make planning an entire wedding a little difficult. Additionally, Herring is having some personal issues that may call for her to leave at any moment.

In past years, students in the Independent Living class took the entire day to set up and to carry out the wedding.  Other Family and Consumer Science students missed half the day to attend the ceremony and reception. It was usually done in May because prom dresses and even decorations came in handy.

“Some kids had never been to a wedding and it’s an important thing to experience,” commented Mrs.Herring.

Even though the wedding has been canceled, the Independent Living classes will be participating in a final project with some similar parameters. They will be missing an extra class period or two but will still have the experience of planning a formal event. One class is having a rehearsal dinner and the other a formal graduation luncheon.  There will be no consolation for the other Family and Consumer Science classes.