On June 18, 2017 30 Brooks DeBartolo Collegiate High School Students and 10 Chaperones checked into the Tampa Airport Marriott Hotel for the first leg of their Brooks Bunch 2017 trip to Detroit and Chicago. The trip was action packed from Sun-Up to Sun-Down. On June 19th the group departed Tampa International Airport for the first stop along the way – Detroit, Michigan. Lodging at the Marriott Dearborn Inn was absolutely amazing, sleeping on the grounds of the Henry Ford Estate and being surrounded by so much history for Ford Motor Company.
Our first stop in Detroit was lunch at McDonald’s and then onto Jalen Rose Leadership Academy – a Charter High School founded by former NBA player Jalen Rose. We were intrigued by the similarities in the vision for both of our high schools and we had the chance to meet some of the student leaders/ambassadors as well as the school administrators.
After leaving the Academy, we joined the JRLA Students for a Community Service Learning Project at Pingree Farms – an Urban Farming project that has been the intention of local business owners to re-purpose land in urban Detroit – we were able to assist with weeding the squash plats as well as feeding the livestock, stacking hay and even bottle feeding baby goats!
After leaving Pingree Farms in he middle of a thunderstorm we proceeded onto the Dearborn Inn with our more than capable Bus Driver Terry. We were blessed to have Terry with us for the three days and Indian Trails Charter Bus Company was amazing. That evening it was onto Novi, Michigan to enjoy and evening of Pizza Party, Bowling and massive amounts of arcade games at Lucky Strike!
Headed back to the hotel with Day 1 in the books, everyone tired and looking forward to Day 2.
