Twenty-one students (7 Juniors and 14 Seniors) headed to Los Angeles for SPARC week 2015.  Dee and Julie Hanks were the chaperones along with Ashlyn Kindberg, tour guide, and Bernard Davis, bus driver. Five warm and sunny days were spent visiting educational and entertaining venues.

Day One: We landed at LAX early Sunday morning and loaded the bus to Griffith Observatory to view the Hollywood sign followed by a guided city tour of Los Angeles sites (Staples Center, Disney Concert Hall, etc.) and lunch at the Farmers Market.  We wrapped up the day by going to Santa Monica pier and beach, Pacific Park amusement center and the Santa Monica Aquarium. Dinner was at Bubba Gump’s Shrimp House.

Day Two:  Our destination was Knott’s Berry Farms where several of us conquered our fear of roller coasters!  A four-course dinner at Medieval Times complete with knights jousting and horses performing was delightful!  Meeting us for dinner was Colton Townley, BH Graduate-Class of 2010.

Day Three:  Sony Pictures Studios (formerly MGM Studios) was our first stop of the day.  This working studio gave our group the chance to see where shows such as “Wizard of Oz”, “Ghostbusters”, and “Breaking Bad” were filmed, along with television game shows such as “Wheel of Fortune” and “Jeopardy”.  We saw filming of “Ray Donovan” and got to visit the set of “Goldbergs”. Adam Sandler’s production company, Happy Madison, is also located on site.  Next up was the Hollywood “Walk of Fame” and a behind the scenes tour at the TCL Chinese Theater (formerly Grauman’s Chinese Theater).  We enjoyed comparing our hand prints with those of famous movie stars and seeing costumes worn in “Gone with the Wind” and “Terminator”.  Several of us took a Hollywood movie star home tour that took us by the homes of Jason Statham, Halle Berry, Leonardo DiCaprio, Ringo Starr, etc.  Dinner was at Miceli’s, oldest Italian restaurant in Hollywood.

Day Four:  We took a studio tour of Universal Studios and saw where “War of the Worlds” and “Psycho” were filmed, enjoyed 4-D shows and experienced movie-themed rides.  Dinner and free time was at Universal City Walk.

Day Five:  Before heading to LAX to make our trek home, our group headed to the mountains to see the Ronald Reagan Library and Museum.  Memorabilia during Reagan’s life (childhood to movie star to president) were displayed.  We toured Air Force One and saw the burial site for President Reagan.  Our final stop was the Getty Museum.  This huge art museum is famous for its sculptures, paintings, gardens and water features.