Candice opened the meeting: "Keep your groups to yourself. This has been a long conversation and something that has taken months to kinda divvy out... I just cannot bear the next week of, oh, why am I in here? Can I be with this person? Can't we just wait? I can't handle it." Group/room composition stays internal until trip departure.
| Topic | What the meeting confirmed / corrected |
|---|---|
| Bag check | Girls → Room 2 (Burris + Jones). Boys → Room 1 (Mask + Leech). Once a room fills, push checked students to overflow. |
| Overflow rooms (where YOU live) | Jones + Burris in Room 4 overflow. Barnett + Visco in Room 5 overflow. (Earlier official itinerary listed you as Room 4 — meeting reassigned you to Room 5.) |
| Blue Ridge zipline | Chaperone at beginning, middle, end of line. Miss Jones stays on the ground for girls. You stay on the ground for boys. ← Candice said this verbatim. |
| Pizza/drinks Day 1 | You are in charge of pizza distribution. Verbatim: "Ground, I'm putting you in charge of pizza." Tickets are in your folder. Plastic baggie A = pizza & drinks Day 1; baggie B = Jersey Mike's Day 2. |
| Medication watch | Chase Brotherton has medication. Comes from Candice. Set an alarm so you remember to dose him on schedule. |
| Aquarium scavenger hunt | Digital, posted to 8th-grade Google Classroom. Each picture is a point. Partners are roommates (some rooms have 3 = trios). One of the two/three has to be IN the picture. Top 5 partner pairs win snack gift baskets (announced later, get for the room that night). The dummy class is "Canvas" as teacher — Candice will add chaperones as students. |
| Yellow letter to parents | Going home Monday May 11 after the time exam, during Moving Up practice. Candice will run her own student meeting that day too. |
| Hotel rules | Stairs > elevators (keep elevators clear for hotel guests). No running/shouting/leaning on doors. No gym, no pool — explicit "I do not care what Jason and Harrison say about football, they are not lifting that day." Boys + girls on different floors. Candice requested separate floors specifically. |
| Southside Social ROTATION | Group 1 = bowling first. Group 2 (yours) = games first. Mark gets ~$5/kid in quarters for games. Chaperones each oversee specific games. "You're in charge of darts. Make sure no one gets stabbed." |
| Wings drama | You ordered wings. Buckley was adamantly against. Candice said: "I will be listening to Matt tell me 'I told you so' for the next week if those wings get out of control. I am desperately needing your help to make sure the wings stay under control." Dry rub, not sauce. |
| Door tape | 10:30 PM hard cutoff. "Tape door top, you go home" — kids try to escape via tape after-hours. |
| Wake shifts | Boys = Shift 1: wake 6:45 AM, breakfast 7 AM (30 min), then back upstairs to pack. Girls = Shift 2: wake 7 AM, breakfast 7:30 AM (bring everything ready for day). Mark's call: boys eat first, girls get more dressing time. |
| Ruby Falls slots (CORRECTED) | Flipped to first this year. Groups of 7, 3 at a time (elevator capacity). Group 1: 8:30 AM — Candice (8:15 early check-in). Group 2: 8:40 AM — Tate / Peyton, Barnett, Leech. Group 3: 8:50 AM — Visco, Matt, Buffy. After tour: gift shop 5–10 min, then bus. |
| Lunch logistics (CHANGED) | The sub place won't deliver this year. They'll meet halfway. Visco volunteered to Uber to do the pickup. Bring 3 sandwiches per pair. Leech brings the frisbee for ultimate-frisbee game while waiting. Candice/Mark handle drink coolers. Chaperones can run to Starbucks during lunch wait. Visco back ~11:15 with sandwiches. |
| Your packet | Candice handed each chaperone a packet containing: trip groupings · arrival/load checklists · Buc-ee's check-in groupings · hotel room groupings · aquarium pairing list (in case the aquarium splits us up — usually we travel as one). Keep it on you both days. |
| Rock City Photo Adventure | 3 trails. Selfies preferred — both partners in the picture. Trail signs identify each location (Grand Corridor, Goblin Underpass, etc.). Each = 1 point. BONUS: 7 GNOMES — must be IN the picture with the gnome (worth more points than trail features). Hints: Fable the Storyteller in a gathering space; Edwards Crafters at Hall of the Mountain King. Gnomes are harder — may need to zoom in. TOP 8 WINNERS get Buc-ee's gift cards. |
| Time | Where | What you do |
|---|---|---|
| 6:00 AM | SFMS — Room 1 → Room 5 overflow | Boys report Rm 1 for bag check (Mask + Leech run it). You & Visco oversee Room 5 overflow as cleared boys come in. Watch for: alcohol, dates, oversized 2-liter bottles, anything unsealable. |
| 6:30 AM | Bus | Roll out toward Blue Ridge (~1.5 hr). |
| 8:30 AM | Blue Ridge Zipline | Boys at zipline first, girls at aerial. You stay on the ground for boys (per Candice). One chaperone at beginning, middle, end of the line. |
| 10:00 AM | Switch | Boys → Aerial; girls → Zipline. |
| ~11:30 AM | Zipline base | Pizza distribution — YOUR job. Tickets from your folder. Plastic baggie A = today's pizza+drinks. 2 slices + 1 drink per ticket. Bathroom breaks. Load by 12:30. |
| 12:30 PM | Bus | Toward Chattanooga (~1.25 hr). |
| ~1:30 PM | Tennessee Aquarium | 2-hour tour. Stay with your trio/pair — students do the digital scavenger hunt on Google Classroom. Don't show them where things are; just guide. Each picture = point; one of partners must be IN it. Sections labeled at top of pic list (Secret Reef, Tropical Cove, etc.). Gather river-side courtyard when done. |
| ~3:00 PM | Marriott Downtown | Check-in. Reinforce hotel rules before kids exit bus. Lobby 3:20 PM. Help fill cooler with ice + water bottles for the walk-back from aquarium. |
| 6:30 PM | Hotel | Required: kids must change clothes (zipline + aerial = sweat). Pass out water bottles. Lobby 6:45. |
| 7:00 PM | Walk to Southside Social (~15 min) | — |
| 7:00–9:00 PM | Southside Social | Group 2 (you) = GAMES first (top floor: ping pong, billiards, darts, skeeball, claw, pinball). $5/kid in quarters. Your station: Billiards. Watch the wings. |
| ~8:00 PM | Same | Dinner buffet, 1 hr. Menu: queso + salsa, mozz sticks + marinara, wings (dry rub) for apps; chicken fingers + sliders for entrees; fries + Caesar salad; chocolate chip cookie cake. |
| 9:00 PM | Same | Flip-flop. Your group → Bowling Lane 4 with Peyton, Visco, Guay (your boys Ethan + Charlie there). |
| 9:45 PM | Same | Snack-basket winners announced (Aquarium scavenger). |
| 10:00 PM | Walk back | ~15 min. Front-counter snack within reason BEFORE 10:15. Cutoff 10:20. |
| 10:30 PM | Hotel | All doors taped by 10:30. Top tape strip = "you go home" violation. Goodnight check-ins. |
| Time | Where | What you do |
|---|---|---|
| 6:45 AM | Hotel — Boys (Shift 1) | Wake-up calls for boys. Breakfast 7 AM, 30 min, back to room to pack. |
| 7:00 AM | Hotel — Girls (Shift 2) | Wake-up calls for girls. Breakfast 7:30 AM. Bring all gear ready for the day. |
| 7:55 AM | Lobby | Load buses. Help with cooler ice + extra drinks. |
| 8:00 AM | Bus | → Ruby Falls. |
| 8:30 AM | Ruby Falls — Group 1 | Candice's group (early check-in 8:15). |
| 8:40 AM | Ruby Falls — Group 2 (YOURS) | You + Tate (Peyton) + Leech. ~2 hr cave tour. Remind students: keep space (claustrophobia). Gift shop 5-10 min after, then bus. |
| 8:50 AM | Ruby Falls — Group 3 | Visco, Matt, Buffy. |
| 11:15 AM | Green space across from Rock City | Outdoor lunch. Visco arriving with Uber-fetched subs. While waiting: Leech runs ultimate frisbee. Candice/you handle drink coolers. Chaperone Starbucks runs OK during the wait. 30 min to eat. Trash duty (may bring trash back; pour out drinks first). |
| 12:00 PM | Rock City | Self-guided, 3 trails. Photo Adventure: trail features signed (Grand Corridor, Goblin Underpass, etc.) — pic must include at least one of you/your partner = 1 pt each. BONUS: 7 gnomes — must be IN picture WITH the gnome (zoom in if needed) = MORE points each. Top 8 winning pairs get Buc-ee's gift cards. Hints: Fable the Storyteller in a gathering space; Edwards Crafters at Hall of the Mountain King. |
| 2:00 PM | Front courtyard | Restrooms + load buses. |
| 3:00 PM | Buc-ee's | 30 min. Restrooms FIRST, then shop. Chaperones at BOTH exits + walking around inside watching kids. Once a student has bought, they exit through the SIDE EXIT door (not front). Candice will text for additional chaperone help outside as crowd grows. Load 3:30. Buy rules: school-appropriate ("if they wouldn't bring it back and show it to Mister Daley or Mister Otto, they shouldn't buy it"); edible items must be resealable; lid-with-a-straw is NOT resealable; chicken / fried chicken is popular but must follow the same rules. |
| 3:30 PM | Bus | → SFMS (~1h15m). |
| 4:30 PM | Last 30 min out | Students text/call parents (Candice's call: at the 30-min-out mark). Clean bus. |
| 5:00 PM | SFMS Roswell | Visually verify each parent picking up your boys before releasing them. Done. (~30 min earlier than last year.) |
Week BEFORE — 8th-grade exam stretch: Mon 5/4 Spirit Day · Tue 5/5 LIT Final · Wed 5/6 SS Final (you sub teacher 94+92) · Thu 5/7 LA Final · Fri 5/8 Math Final · Mon 5/11 SCI Final + Moving Up Practice + Locker Cleanout + parent yellow-letter day.
Week AFTER — Wed 5/13 return + 6/7 LIT Exam · Thu 5/14 NO 8th grade + 8th Report Cards Due · Fri 5/15 8th Moving Up Practice = Field Day · Mon 5/18 8th Moving Up Breakfast + Ceremony + LAST DAY (early release).
1nrS_KA3MzVEEHjjGXEdbf7OOnzOZb9PM.mark@thebarnetts.info.