(November 22, 2005) — It is 6:15 a.m. One at a time or in small groups, 71 seniors emerge from the gray dawn and crawl out of cars, whispering subdued farewells to their loved ones. They stand, their labored breathing coming in chilled mist. They make weak efforts to ward off the glaciers of ice rapidly forming in the blood vessels of their hands, and are gradually herded onto two buses, which belch clouds of putrid diesel smoke and begin to roll, bound for parts unknown. “We tried to read [the poems] with passion because it would have been boring to listen to ten poems that were read monotonously,” Castillo said. Her group had been given two of the most radical poets of the bunch (Allen Ginsburg and Marge Piercy) and were teaching their classmates about them in Diana McGrath’s AP American Literature class. McGrath’s AP students have been involved with this poetry project since Oct. 26. As the morning progresses to within striking distance of a time some of the seniors might recognize having seen on a clock before, spirits rise steadily. And as they are led from the buses to a boat (stopping to pick up tickets and leis), tuneless humming breaks out into full-fledged singing, focused mainly around the Titanic soundtrack. Once the boat made it to dock at Avalon on Catalina Island, the seniors were given two vouchers each, good for a bike rental, a game of mini-golf, or tokens at the arcade, then were turned loose, and told to gather in a couple of hours for lunch. Since some of the activities were not yet available, some of the students simply wandered the streets, taking in the sights and sounds of Avalon. One such student, Geoff Williams, relayed his account of one of Avalon’s more interesting residents: “As we were exploring the streets of Avalon, we were surprised to see a heavily tattooed man driving a golf-cart, playing loud hip-hop music through a sound system that took up most of the cart, showing off his ride’s 5-inch spinners. When someone asked him to turn the music down, he sped off, wheels screeching, in pursuit of the complainer.” The seniors the four staff members attending—Principal Doug Doll, and his wife Mary Doll and teachers Kristina Provost and Verjinia Karnik—met for lunch at Steve’s Steakhouse, which, along with the vouchers and boat ticket, was included in the $80 they paid for the trip. Afterward, they dispersed to participate in the various activities Avalon had to offer. Aren Dergrigorian, who spent one of his vouchers on a bike rental, said, “I was going up hill for one hour and I couldn’t spit or swallow and my hair was messed up and my thighs were in pain, but once I got to the top, it was the best feeling in the world. I didn’t brake the whole way down.” Others chose mini-golf, including Anthony Darmiento, who “screwed up a mini golf put and hit the house next to the course with the ball. I had to drop the club and run.” Kayla Magee related an equally unfortunate story: “Half-way through mini-golf we kind of gave up and started throwing the balls at each other… and a seal almost ate Aren.” As the seniors who had rented bikes returned them and collapsed in various states of exhaustion around the rental shop’s lot, they noticed a basketball court across the street, forgot their exhaustion, rented a basketball, and started up a game that lasted until sunset. Slowly, the growing darkness and a second wave of exhaustion overcame even the most athletic of the basketball-players, and talk shifted to plans for reaching the boat home.