In 2005, history teacher Matthew Torrens introduced the Wild West trip, taking several students to visit Utah and Monticello High School, where he taught prior to Saratoga High. The bi-yearly tradition has continued for 11 years, making this year’s upperclassmen the eighth group that has traveled to Utah with Torrens.
Over spring break, 20 juniors and seniors had the chance to venture around southeastern Utah. The trip’s activities included hiking the Delicate Arch, rappelling off a 50-foot cliff, mountain biking in the Canyonlands and riding a jeep down an abandoned road with a 1,000-foot cliff. The itinerary gave students a chance to admire the landscape and immerse themselves in new activities.
“The trip was probably the best trip I have ever taken in high school, and we did so many things that I would have never imagined before,” senior Jennifer Chen said. “On the first day we went mountain biking, and my butt still hurts from that because we biked 13 miles up and down.”
In addition to exploring the outdoors, students journeyed around towns such as Moab, Provo, Monticello and Salt Lake City and got an in-depth look at Utah’s history.
“We do all sorts of history-related activities, such as looking at petroglyphs, pictographs and an old log cabin homestead,” Torrens said. “We walk the ruins of a ghost town and visit the abandoned cemetery where President Buchanan’s sister is buried.”
Although the trip is not directly tied to the Media Arts Program curriculum, the group took time to incorporate media aspects by visiting Brigham Young University’s broadcasting school and the Moab Film Commission, where movies like “Star Trek” and “The Lone Ranger” were filmed in Utah’s rugged landscape.
However, for many students, the most memorable part of the trip was forging friendships with the students of Monticello High School.
“Our students became so friendly [with them that] we attended their school play and played Fugitive across their little town until midnight,” Torrens said.
The game Fugitive was actually invented in Saratoga. Played at night, a team called “the Fugitives,” runs from school to another location while the other team chases after the Fugitives in cars.
Along with making new memories, SHS students were able to experience the cultural difference of a small rural city that is predominantly white.
“We went cruising; that’s something we never do [at Saratoga] because our lives are so intense,” Chen said. “The [students in Utah] are so relaxed. They hunt bunnies in their free time and don’t have any homework on the weekends. Every class has six people, and they don’t have many AP classes.”
For Torrens, this trip is always unforgettable, as he is able to revisit his old home city with his students and expose them to another state’s culture and modern history.
“It’s amazing for me,” Torrens said. “The football coach is a former player of mine, and the 12th-grade Government/Econ teacher is a former student of mine.”.
Torrens loves showing students different cultures outside of the classroom curriculum and giving them a chance to experience history come to life in the real world.
“It is rewarding for me is to get Saratoga kids outside the class, away from their test prep class, away from their latest Aeries update, away from the pressures of a student and into the real world to see how much fun it can be to laugh, smile and enjoy yourself in nature and history,” Torrens said.