By Megha Lakha
When you go on RAFT, you have to be prepared to get wet. Sophomore Thomas Bomar enjoyed starting splash battles with the other students, but he “didn’t like getting splashed” himself because “the water was cold.” Reagan Moore said that she luckily didn’t have to worry about being wet for too long because she hiked in the morning. Reagan said, “The dry-fit shirt I wore was a must.” Zara Hebb offered the advice: “If you’re rafting in the morning YOU NEED a change of clothes because I was soggy for the rest of the day.”
RAFT, River Awareness for Tenth Grade, which took place a few weeks ago, is a longstanding tradition. During RAFT, students were able to ‘shoot the hooch’ down the Chattahoochee River and hike, allowing them to gain a newfound admiration for Lovett’s backyard (and dry-fit wear).
The excursion was initially developed by a few teachers, including Mr. Crowley. He said that the tenth graders were the only grade without a trip. Juniors have JOE, Frosh have SING, and Seniors don’t really need a trip (because they’re about to take a big one to the rest of their lives), but the sophomores were kind of just stuck in between with nothing fun to do as a grade.
This was Lovett’s 22nd year of doing RAFT. Mr. Crowley explained that RAFT seemed like the perfect experience for sophomores because our campus is set on the riverbank and it’s a fun and important experience for students. “It’s a small body of water supporting a large city, so we wanted students to learn more about the river,” he said.
Mr. Crowley said that the committee pretty much consisted of one person: “Me. Ha!” He said that they don’t need volunteers like they do for JOE because the 10th-grade advisors serve as student chaperones.
Lovett is set on the riverbank, so naturally, all students should be able to appreciate being right on the Chattahoochee. Thomas Bomar said he loved rafting, “It was super fun and kind of cool to just be on the Chattahoochee and see everything,” he said.
The tenth graders were split into two groups by advisories: one group rafted in the morning and one group hiked in the morning, then the groups swapped activities in the afternoon.
Reese Richardson said her group rafted in the morning and said, “I would definitely change that if I had the option.” Zara Hebb said rafting was fun but also wished that she could’ve rafted in the afternoon “to avoid being in cold and wet clothes all day.” Zara advises all of next year’s 10th graders to bring a change of clothes and a towel. She says, “Believe me you do not want to forget that.”
Patrick Smyth similarly suggests that the next batch of 10th graders bring “A full change of clothes, a change of shoes and socks, and wear dry fit for sure.” Patrick forgot a change of socks and decided to sell his lunch for a pair of clean pair of socks. “I don’t regret selling my sandwich at all,” he says.
Patrick said his group “had talks with Mr. Crowkey and he talked about how to preserve nature and then we picked up trash.” Patrick said that overall, his RAFT experience was memorable; the only thing he would change is the hiking.
The majority of the sophomore class agreed that the hiking part could get “boring.” Thomas mentioned that a lot of his group’s shoes got wet on the hike from walking through puddles and waterfalls, which nobody was happy about. Thomas also added that the hike felt really “uneventful.” Instead of hiking, Patrick wished that “we could’ve done a rendezvous point because that would be better.”
A fan favorite of RAFT was the splash fights. The entire sophomore class engaged in these fun splash battles. Mr. Crowley even admitted that his favorite part of RAFT is “hands down splash fights on the way down. Also, just being on the river and seeing kids enjoying it,” he continued, “It’s not scary it’s more about the camaraderie and having a good time together.”
Mr. Crowley reflected that “many people view the river as a waste of space, but if you see the river as that, then that’s what you will always see. But if you view it as the key part of our community that it is, then that’s what it will be.”
