Senior Class Departs on Senior Trip with a Purpose
Each year at Liberty seniors begin with a class trip together to start the year in a positive, meaningful way. This year, seniors will travel to Sky Ranch in Quapaw, Okla., this Labor Day weekend for a time of reflection and refreshment. Chris Searcy, Liberty youth pastor, said the purpose of the trip is for the students to prepare their hearts to be in line with what God wants for them this year as leaders and as a class.
“I think the trip really brings the students together and gives them an opportunity to express how they want to be remembered as a class,” Searcy said. 
“I am so excited about the trip because it has always been a sweet time to get away and hear from the Lord,” he said.
As an alumnus, Searcy said the annual trip has taken many forms over the years. “We have taken senior trips as far back as I can remember,” he said. “However, we had always taken the trip at the end of the school year.”
He said that in the past four years, however, seniors have gone on a senior retreat before the school year is well underway for two main reasons. One, it is a great way for students to begin the school year, focused and unified. Secondly, Searcy said, “it was getting more and more difficult to plan extravagant and fun senior trips with our crazy spring schedule and make the trip affordable for parents.
“With those two factors in mind, we decided to make the trip at the beginning of the year and pay for it – this makes it more beneficial for our students, staff, and families.”
The school year for seniors still ends a big way. In May, Searcy and other teachers took the seniors on an all-night senior splurge, as students enjoyed some of the area’s most exciting places, including eating dinner at Reunion Tower, racing go-carts, and swimming at a water park.
As Searcy and the senior class prepares for the trip this weekend, Searcy is reminded that Jesus would often get away, spend time with the Father, and pray.
“I think it is a wonderful model for us to practice,” he said.
And with that, Searcy plans the senior trip, just days away, hoping the trip will have these same profound, yet simple attributes as well.