Tech Prep Goes to the Big Apple

Story by Sean Beach and LaRai Sampson, Jr. Photos by Sean Beach and Dionel Grice.

JULY 6, 2016: On June 6, 2016, Friendship News Network Tech Prep Middle School Academy had the chance to go to New York City to experience the life of a New Yorker. The trip was very  exciting because we were able to do things we never did before. We left at 3:12 am and arrived at 6:50 am. We had to leave early because we had to make sure that we arrived at our first stop, “Live with Kelly Show” on time at 9:00. After the show, we ate New York pizza and went to the M&M World in Times Square right where the ball drops on New Year's Eve. After that we took the train to the One World Trade Center and the 9/11 Memorial which is where the twin towers fell. New York is a very large but fun city to go to and there was a lot of things to explore while being there.

The first stop after getting off of the train was the “Live with Kelly” show. The star of the show is Kelly Ripa and the special co-host was DL Hughley. They had games with chances to win money but the sad thing for us is that you had to be 18 or over. They also had dance contests for people who had to dance in front of the audience to see who could dance on the show. The show was really funny. DL Hughley is one funny person. After the show, Kelly also came to meet us and had a brief conversation with us. We talked to her about being a journalist and what we want to be when we get older. It was very weird but exciting to talk to a TV celebrity because some celebrities don’t want to talk to their audience.

We went to John’s Pizzeria in Times Square, New York City. New York pizza is the bomb and New York pizza is better than the pizza in DC. Their pizza was very delicious, thin

and crispy, unlike DC pizza which has a rising crust and is too soft. Even though DC pizza is good, it is not like New York City’s. New York pizza is wood-fired. 

Next we went to the One World Trade Center. Did you know that the One World Trade Center is the tallest building in America. If you don’t, let me tell you why. We  went to the top of the building which was 104 stories high. At the top, you can see the whole entire city of New York and you can see parts of New Jersey like Jersey City and Newark. If you have never been, it is a marvelous place to go. You can get a IPAD tablet that can tell you about the different landmarks in New York City.

After going to the World Trade Center we went to the 9/11 Memorial right around the corner. They have two big pools that are in the exact place where the old twin towers used to be before the 9/11 attack. It was really nice and peaceful. Around the pools are the names of the people who died during the attack. It was really sad, but it was also a great experience.

New York City is a great city to go to. The FNN Tech Prep Bureau learned that the trip to New York was a prize for being the top FNN bureau of this year. We really enjoyed New York and we wished we could have stayed longer but since New York City is so big we ran out of time. We enjoyed every activity and we hope we can do it again. We took the subway back to Penn Station had dinner, then we did a little souvenir shopping.

Link to “Live with Kelly” show-June 6th

Sean Beach, LaRai Sampson Jr., and Dionel Grice are 7th grade scholars at Friendship Tech Prep Academy.