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VIDALIA, La. — Between 20 and 30 Concordia Parish students could experience an all-expense-paid trip to New York City as an incentive to do their best in school.

Concordia Parish School Board Superintendent Toyua Bachus is personally fundraising for the June 4 through 8 trip, which would be entirely community-supported without using any district funds.

The trip was inspired by another like it that happened in 2018 when Bachus was still the principal at Ferriday Junior High School. She said 37 students experienced the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to tour New York as a trip of merit.

Those students experienced the wax museum, Top of the Rock, the red stairs in Times Square, a scavenger hunt around the Statue of Liberty, a walk across the Brooklyn Bridge, a picnic in Central Park and also spotted a couple of celebrities.

“They saw Joe Budden, a rapper, just walking down the street,” Bachus said. “On the last day, they met a Miss New York finalist. All the guys thought that was impressive, and some of the girls did too. At the end of our trip, they were all asked to write a postcard about their favorite thing they did. I thought they would’ve said the wax museum or the red stairs. To my surprise, many of them said the 9/11 museum was the highlight of their trip.”

While the teens were not alive yet on Sept. 11, 2001, Bachus said the students “were in awe” at the dedication area, where people nearly two decades after the terrorist attack were putting out roses for a family member or loved one’s birthday. She watched them “soak it all in.”

In the museum itself, the 911 calls of the date of the attack were played on speaker as they walked through, “So they could feel it.”

Bachus said, “So many great conversations came out of it — genuine conversations that extended past the trip.”

While it was a trip of merit — as each student who went had to meet academic criteria to be eligible to go — it was also a trip of means, Bachus said.

“The only downfall was that we had to ask each student who went to pay $500,” she said. “Some who probably should have gone couldn’t go because they didn’t have $500.”

That is why Bachus aims to raise $75,000, so no child will have to pay. As of Friday, “we’ve raised $8,000,” she said. Each of the 12 chaperones who have agreed to go has been asked to fundraise $5,000 themselves.

The trip is happening even without additional donations, but the more money raised the greater the chance of students having an unforgettable experience.

“They won’t be eating anywhere they could eat at home. They’ll be eating off of the food truck like the real New Yorkers do,” Bachus said. “I just pray that this is something our community embraces. We’re motivating students to grow and achieve their personal best. It’s not about my love of New York, even though I do love New York. It’s about giving something to our students to say ‘we see you” and recognize their hard work.”

Eligibility for the New York trip is designed so that any student, regardless of their academic capabilities, could be chosen as long as they’re doing their personal best.

To be eligible, the students must have exemplary behavior with no out-of-school suspensions, show academic growth on their benchmark assessments, have all passing grades on their report cards, and have no more than 10 unexcused absences.

District-wide winners of the fifth, eighth and 12th grade Student of the Year awards will have an automatic spot. The rest will have their names drawn out of a box at their school so that the selection process is truly random.

Once their names are drawn, those students will have to sign a contract stating that they will maintain their eligibility through the end of the school year, or else another student’s name will be drawn to take their place, Bachus said.

“We’re going to make it real to the students that they could very well be one of the names chosen,” Bachus said. “They will write their own names on a card and drop it into the box.”

A fundraising opportunity for this trip takes place starting at 1 p.m. on Sept. 28 at the naming ceremony of the Bishop Robert Cade Gymnasium at Ferriday High School.

“Bishop Robert Cade was an all-around phenomenal man in our community, always supporting of our students and we’re having a gym naming ceremony in his honor,” Bachus said. Following the ceremony is an alumni basketball tournament, “Old Heads v. Old Heads” followed by “Youngins v. Youngins.” Tickets are $5 each with 100 percent of proceeds going to the New York trip.

Contributions can also be made through the GoFundMe page: www.gofundme.com/f/support-concordia-students-nyc-dream.