By Malaya Madison
On September 10, instead of strolling down the halls between classes and cleaning up after themselves during lunch, sophomores strolled down the river and picked up trash from the trails.
The sophomore class embarked on a memorable journey rafting on the Chattahoochee River and hiking the Rottenwood Creek Trail.
Half of the sophomore advisories hiked first and then rafted, while the other groups rafted first and then hiked.
I personally was a part of the Morning raft and the Afternoon hike.
Our group departed from Lovett around 8:30 and headed to the river.
Although I had heard a lot about RAFT from upperclassmen and assemblies, I didn’t know what to expect.
Soon after we arrived, we started the process of putting on our life preservers and getting ready to “Shoot the Hooch”, but I got truly excited when Mr. Crowley came over to a couple of my friends and me to take our photo, and we did a funny pose.
RAFT has been around for 24 years, and Mr. Crowley, an US Science Teacher, has been a part of it since its inception.
For Mr. Crowley, the service initiative is important because humans are the reason the river is so dirty.
“We’re the ones who create the issues. If we recognize that, then we can solve them,” he said.
While environmental awareness is a large part of RAFT, Mr. Crowley also sees this trip as an opportunity to build connections with classmates.
Although it may not completely bond the grade, Mr. Crowley believes that now that we all have another shared experience, we can relate to each other on a deeper level.
“You get to know people who you haven’t really gotten to know through the years,” he said.
He even recognizes that these connections could last beyond our high school years. “It could be 20 years later; it could be at a reunion,” he said.
These moments of connecting came to life as soon as we got on the water.
The morning rush of taking attendance, answering questions, and checking things over can make for a slow start to the day, but Mr. Crowley said that once we get on the buses to head to the river, the fun starts.
What really de-stresses Mr. Crowley from the planning of the morning is after his second splash fight; after that, he says, “Yeah, bring it on, dog.”
As soon as we got on, our tour guide, Danny, began learning our names, and we started thinking about songs to sing on the river.
Because the water levels were low, Mr. Crowley was nervous that the groups were going to get stopped on many more rocks, but he mentioned his group didn’t due to his “awesome raft guiding experience.”
Unfortunately, we were not so lucky, and our group kept having to “popcorn butt,” meaning jumping on the boat while sitting down, so Danny could get us off the rocks. (Popcorn butt is an actual term, BTW.)
But the real adventure wasn’t over after rafting and hiking; we also had to make our way back to Lovett. Because of the traffic, they decided we should just walk back.
Mr. Crowley noticed my face while he was speaking about the walk. “You were like, ‘I could’ve lived without that walk. Could have gotten on a bus and shuttled that half mile,” he said.
Ms. Mehta, US Counselor, went on RAFT with her current sophomore advisory.
The last time she went was in the Spring, so it had been a big adjustment in weather.
Another big adjustment is the fact that RAFT fell on the third day back from maternity leave for Ms. Mehta. She said this actually helped the process of coming back to work.
“Knowing that I was going to get to spend the day outside, having fun, being on the water was a delight,” he said.
Her favorite memory from the trip was seeing Mr. Crowley (“who is on the record, the biggest menace in the rafts in terms of splashing everyone”) having this joyful, but menacing grin on his whole face.
“He has organized rafts for a long time, and has a lot of knowledge about it, and to see him just having so much fun and being able to share and spread that with the students is a beautiful thing,” she shared.
Although she wishes she were on a RAFT with our advisory, she is happy because we probably appreciate being with our friends, “bonding and having fun together,” she said.
In Ms. Mehta’s advisory is Calvin Portman, who happened to be on my raft.
“I would have liked to hike earlier because then you get to be on the water when it’s hot in the afternoon,” he said.
Lanie Kelso had the pleasure of hiking first. She liked rafting because “it was fun to be with her friends and have a break from school.”
Friends are an important part of RAFT because it is one of the few trips where we get to choose who we spend our time with.
Benny Crane said his best advice for future sophomores is to “get a good group for when you’re in the RAFT because it will make the experience better,” he said.
His favorite memory was him and his friend, Mason Francis, doing backflips off the RAFT together.
Micah Ingram also said she enjoyed RAFT because “I was with my friends, and we had a really fun time rafting and being on the Chattahoochee and experiencing that together,” she said.
Although the day was filled with fun and laughter, not all memories were happy.
What stood out to Eknath Kamat was how polluted the creek was. “There was a lot of trash on the trail, and that was pretty sad,” he said. But that’s what all those trash bags were for.
Whether it’s twenty years from now at a reunion with my past classmates or at JOE, reminiscing on another outdoor experience, I am very proud to be a part of this twenty-four-year tradition.
