Reaching new heights

Students clipped into safety harnesses dashed up and down walls about 30-feet tall. Some students jumped from a high ledge onto a narrow platform while others reached the pinnacle of their climb and sat on a toilet. Where did all this fun happen? It happened today when the school’s newspaper club went on a field trip to High Exposure in Rockleigh, NJ.

“My favorite part was probably climbing the walls because when we were climbing up it felt kind of scary, but when we climbed down it felt fine,” Owen Blanken, a sixth-grader, said.

Blanken is one of 23 members of The Villano View who attended the field trip. It’s an annual team-building activity for the school’s online newspaper staff. Sydney Nepola-DeFelice, a sixth-grader, is also a member who has published a number of stories for the newspaper.

“My favorite part of the trip was the climbing. There were a lot of options of walls that you could climb on, and it was definitely safe and enjoyable to experience with friends,” Nepola-DeFelice said.

This is Christian Velez’s first year on the newspaper staff. Aside from writing stories on school happenings, Velez publishes a monthly comic.

“The main rock climbing room was fun because there were a lot of different options to climb on. I was a little nervous, but it was fun,” Velez said.

The Villano View members raise money through a holiday wreath sale to pay all expenses for the trip. Maeve Gagliardo, a sixth-grader, sold a number of wreaths to support the team-building trip. This year, she is also the newspaper’s feature editor.

“In The Villano View we collaborate to write and create stories,” Gagliardo said. “We also try to acknowledge school events and things that are happening in the town.”

Nicole Pinto-Spiegel is the newspaper’s editor-in-chief this year. She reviews all stories and makes edits for readers.

“My favorite part has been seeing it from a different view because you always think it’s the writer who does all of it, but it’s also the editor who makes the story the best it can be,” Pinto-Spiegel explained.