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Sports

Doane Academy Canoe-to-School

Some seniors get to drive to their first day of 12thgrade. At Doane Academy, the seniors arrive by canoe. Everyone is welcome to come watch the spectacle on September 7 down on the Riverbank in Burlington, NJ next to the Burlington-Bristol Bridge. 

For more details visit doaneacademy.org

The seniors' arrival is the culmination of a three-day "Senior Sojourn" that includes hiking and biking in addition to canoeing. The class of 2012 added a hot air balloon ride and a community service project to its journey.

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“Every year we like to add some new dimensions to this long-standing tradition,” says Headmaster John F. McGee. “There’s some symbolism in the ‘lift-off’ to the new year in addition to taking advantage of our fortunate position on the Delaware River.”

Waiting for the seniors on the riverbank will be their families and all of their schoolmates, from Pre Kindergarten to the Junior Class. A bagpiper and the Doane Academy band will greet the paddlers as they arrive, escorted by state police boats. Upon landing, the school year will begin with a riverfront chapel ceremony.

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The canoe trip to school is the capstone of a largerSenior Sojourn taking place September 5-7. This year’s Sojourn will include a sunrise hot air balloon ride at Balloons Aloft in Pittstown, NJ followed by a restoration service project at a park in Frenchtown, PA. On Day 2 (September 6), the seniors will canoe several miles down the Neshaminy Creek to where it meets the Delaware River and camp the evening at the Red Dragon Canoe Club in Edgewater Park, NJ. That night, the seniors will elect their class officers around a bonfire.

“You get to know people on a deeper level without even realizing it,” says senior Mary Brodowski, Captain of the Doane women’s soccer, basketball and softball teams. “No other school starts the year like we do. This year, we’re going to have fun in the hot air balloons but, as always, we also make an effort to do community service wherever we go.”

This year’s canoe trip to school will be the 12thsince the journey began with the Headmaster and Student Council President paddling to the first day of school in 2000.  

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