On Tuesday, March 15, a group of Gorham High School (GHS) students and adult chaperones squeezed themselves into a van and set out on what would prove to be a very long drive to New York City. There, they spent five days and four nights exploring the city, meeting new people, and breaking down any preconceived notions that they might have had about the world around them.

Operation Breaking Stereotypes (OBS) is a club at the high school that is part of a greater national organization. The mission of OBS is to connect students across a wide range of cultural, ethnic, and geographical backgrounds to discuss the similarities and differences between their lives.

The OBS group at the high school consists of only seniors and has been meeting nearly every month since they were freshmen. All of their discussions and meetings have been building up to a trip to NYC, where they would meet up with a partner school to participate in a dialogue about stereotypes that exist in both Maine and New York. A few weeks ago, this trip was finally able to happen.

The group consisted of seven seniors, one teacher chaperone, and one parent chaperone. Their packed schedules for each day kept them busy. Aside from the visit with their partner school, they went to several museums, watched a Broadway show, explored Chinatown, and had a meaningful dialogue in Central Park.

Eliza Kenigsberg, a teacher at GHS, is the advisor for OBS and the reason that the club was brought to Gorham in the first place. She has been working all year to plan this trip and make sure that her students would be able to get the most that they possibly could out of the experience.

“Our OBS trip to New York City was designed to expose group members to new experiences. For many, this involved a certain level of discomfort,” Kenigsberg said. “I think this discomfort was the most important part of the experience. We don’t grow unless we stretch ourselves.”

Overall, the trip was a huge success. Seeing as the partnership with the NYC school is set to continue into next year, Kenigsberg is already looking to the future and planning to recreate the trip with a new group of students.

“The experience of advising an OBS group at Gorham High School was truly meaningful,” Kenigsberg noted. “Given its impact and value, I would like to find a way to offer it to more students.”