RDHS has plenty of different clubs. One club in particular that stands out to many is the Ski Club. The Ski Club is a club that allows students to travel to Bellearye Mountain in upstate New York and ski six times during the year where students get to ski or snowboard.
Mrs. Lenihan, an advisor of the club, makes all the arrangements with the mountain, bus, and put together the schedule of students who are skiing on each trip. “I also monitor the students during the day and make sure everyone is staying safe,” said Lenihan.
Her favorite part about Ski Club is “seeing the excitement of the students and getting to spend the day in nature.”
To join and be a part of this club, there are some requirements. “Ski Club has first come first serve [policy]. That means you must have all your permission slips and check to Mrs. Neary to get a spot on the list for each week. If spots fill up, you might only ski a few times instead of the entire six weeks. Students are allowed to ski outside the boundaries of the mountain slope and that means they cannot go off trail. Helmets are required,” Lenihan exclaimed.
The students have the freedom to go anywhere they want in the Ski Center until their bus is ready to go. They also get a lunch time and can purchase anything that the Ski Center has to offer.
Two freshmen, Charlie Bertuzzi and Marissa Fortini, are current members of the club and take part in their trips to Bellearye Mountain Ski Center.
Charlie Bertuzzi, a member of Ski Club since 7th grade mentioned that, “My favorite thing about being a part of ski club is going skiing with my friends and being able to experience the bus rides there and back.”
Marissa Fortini, a 2-year member said, “My favorite part of this club is also skiing with my friends because we always have a good time, and it is always a super fun adventure.”
Although there may be a lot of highs to this club, there are some lows that the students face. Fortini said, “The only two things that I dislike about this club are the two-hour bus rides and having to wake up at 5:30 in the morning in order to make it to the bus.”
Bertuzzi commented, “My only low for this club is the mountain we go to which is Bellearye because I miss going to the one that we went to in Middle School: Mountain Creek.”
Something these two have learned from Ski Club is “I love being able to go on ski trips to my lake house in New York with the practice I have had from the club,” said Bertuzzi.
“I learned not to snowboard on ice,” Fortini smiled.