By: Kathryn Vance

The senior trip to King’s Island has been a tradition for several years; though it is not a school-sponsored trip, every year seniors organize the trip on their own and skip a day of school to meet up at the Cincinnati amusement park. In the past, “senior skip day” would come and go without too many harsh repercussions. However, because of pressure from the state department of education regarding attendance rates, last year NAHS administration began to crack down on the annual event.

This year, administrators are taking a different approach to the yearly outing. In an effort to deter students from skipping school, principal Mrs. Janet Page is offering a free King’s Island ticket to any senior that comes to school for the full day on a designated Friday in the spring.

Mrs. Page explains that this opportunity will replace the former senior cruise at the end of the year. Last year, as with many years in the past, bad weather caused a cancellation of the cruise after the PTO had already made the deposit on the boat. However, the King’s Island trip is a much less tentative event.

“King’s Island goes on with or without bad weather,” Page said. “[It’s] a sure thing.”

She stated that with the price of food and the boat rental for the night of the senior cruise, it amounted to about the same as a pass for each student, so it will not cost the school any more money than in previous years.

Page says that last year the day before the senior cruise there was “horrible” attendance. She hopes that this incentive will be the boost that students need to come to school on that Friday. The passes, she explains, will be given out to all seniors on a certain Friday near the end of the year, and will be good for one day, the following Saturday.

Senior Zack Rhoades was on board with the idea the second he heard about it.

“King’s Island vs. a cruise on the muddy Ohio River… is this even a debate? My attendance rate just went up.”

However, not everyone thinks it will be as effective.

“I think it’s a great idea because King’s Island is awesome, but I’m not so sure that it will be effective because kids will probably feel like they could just buy their own ticket and not come to school,” senior Abbie Walker said.

More information regarding dates and other important details will be announced in the spring.