Tippecanoe Valley High School choir and drama teacher Thomas Boys, left, and Derek Herrmann with Music Travel Consultants presented on a trip students can take to New York City, N.Y., in June 2026 to the Tippecanoe Valley School Board at its meeting on Monday, Nov. 18.

Text and Photos
By Leah Sander
InkFreeNews

MENTONE — Tippecanoe Valley High School students will have the opportunity to go on two class trips in upcoming years, including one to New York City, N.Y.

At its regular meeting on Monday, Nov. 18, the Tippecanoe Valley School Board heard from TVHS choir and drama teacher Thomas Boys and Derek Herrmann with Music Travel Consultants.

They presented on taking high school students to NYC in June 2026.

“The target group would be choral students and the theater students who are interested in going,” said Boys.

He noted the trip could “show (students) what is possible for them in the future.”

Boys said students would see three Broadway plays, the Statue of Liberty, the American Museum of Natural History and 9/11 Memorial & Museum and could sing at the American Museum of Natural History.

The goal is to sign up at least 35 students, with the cost being $2,000 each, said Boys. He plans to have fundraisers to help students pay for the trip.

The second trip the board approved was one for the class of 2025 to Cincinnati, Ohio.

TVHS math teacher and senior class sponsor Erin McKinley presented on it.

She and TVHS Principal Brandon Kresca noted the school planned on taking students to Washington, D.C., but few students could go due to cost.

The trip to Cincinnati would be in April 2025. Kids would go to the Cincinnati Zoo, Newport Aquarium, Nancy & David Wolf Holocaust & Humanity Center and National Underground Railroad Freedom Center.

If the minimum of 20 kids sign up, the cost would be $375 per student, with the cost decreasing to $275 per student if 40 sign up. Kids would also have to fund two lunches and one dinner.

The board approved both trip opportunities.

In other business, the board:

• Accepted several grants and donations, including: apples from Creation Celebration for Tippecanoe Valley Middle School special education teacher Cathy Olson’s life skills students; $500 from Joe Secrist for the TVHS landscaping project, given in memory of his father, Jerry Secrist, and the food pantry he helped run, Mary and Jerry’s Helping Hands; $500 from Beaver Dam Community Church for T’s Boutique, which provides clothes to TVHS students in need; and more than $3,000 from Kerlin Ford in Silver Lake to TVHS from a test-drive event the company had at a home football game in August.
• Approved the hiring of TVHS head varsity baseball coach Clayton Adamson, guidance office secretary Sarah Green and part-time custodian Dora Flores; TVMS food service worker Veronica Shufelt; Mentone Elementary School girls’ basketball coach Kacie Zolman; and Tippecanoe Valley School Corp. maintenance workers Benjamin Rickel and Elmer Williams.
• Accepted the resignations of TVMS secretary Kim Miller and cafeteria staff worker Mandy Kates.

The board’s next regular meeting is 6 p.m. Monday, Dec. 16, at Mentone Elementary School.

The board accepted more than $3,000 from Kerlin Ford of Silver Lake for TVHS from a test-drive event at a home football game in August. From left are TVSC Board President Adam Heckaman, Kerlin Ford Co-owner Rick Kerlin and TVHS Principal Brandon Kresca.