CLEVELAND — Two Cleveland high schools are in need of nearly $30,000 to give 15 students the trip of a lifetime.
“I hope that they can pick up the phone. They can send an email. They can send a text and one of the partners will step up and say, you know, we’re going to help these students,” said Andrea Dockery-Murray, an art teacher and travel advisor for John Adams College and Career Academy.
To some, the familiar Midwestern image is comforting. But for others, it could leave them wanting more.
That’s why Dockery-Murray created "Beyond the Block" to take Cleveland High School students on an experience of a lifetime to destinations she says they have only dreamt of.
“Many of our students do not travel and we had several students who had never been out of the state of Ohio until they flew to Rome last spring,” said Dockery-Murray.
This year, Dockery-Murray wants to take six students from John Adams and nine students from John F. Kennedy to Greece.
She and Dr. Susan Roebuck say there’s just one problem.
“We need $30,000,” said Roebuck, Head Counselor and Travel Club Advisor for John F. Kennedy High School.
Roebuck said they’ve already paid $15,000.
However, she says there are some students who are short about $3,500. Without it, some students won't be able to go, Tyler Baker says, including some of his friends.
“Everybody deserves to go on an international trip to see new things in the world and not just be stuck,” said Tyler, a student at John Adams College and Career Academy.
Being an inner-city school, Roebuck says it can be challenging for some families to come up with this money.
“Our families can’t afford it. They just cannot meet the need for this,” said Roebuck.
That’s why the pair stood before District CEO Dr. Warren Morgan at Tuesday night’s school board meeting to make one final plea, which is a move family members, like Tyler's grandmother, Deborah Baker, say they support, "for him to be able to travel to Greece and experience outside of the boundaries."
Following Tuesday’s meeting, the board's response remains unclear.
But you can support a GoFundMe for the trip by clicking here by Friday, March 1.
