Pine Island is a wonderful place to be to help clean up and save the environment. However, if President Barack Obama happens to be close by, it may not be the best place to be. The ECE Marine Science class at LHS decided to take a trip to Pine Island to pick up trash and learn about this island itself, but received a rude awakening. The exact day that the class had decided to visit this island was when Obama was giving a speech at the Coast Guard Academy and was flying into the Groton airport, which happened to be directly over the island itself.

“The first people that came were actually the Coast Guard,” junior Olivia Triplett said. “Then a man with a gun and official uniform showed up and we were like, oh man, we better leave.” The class then proceeded to return to UConn, as their plans to clean up the so-called “secluded island” were gone. Principal Amanda Fagan even tweeted, “Too bad your secret service annihilated our Project Oceanology field trip today while you were in town. #SadColonels.” However, Colonels know how to make the best out of a situation such as this.

Instead of helping clean up Pine Island alone, they moved on to clean up the beach as Uconn Avery Point. “It was great to be able to still do something,” Triplett said. “Plus that was a trip I’ll never forget.” A simple cleanup day turned into one of memories and presidency that these Colonels will most likely never forget, so thank you, Obama.

Megan McKern, Staff Writer

Sophomore Megan McKern is a staff writer for the 2014-2015 Colonel. She participates in GSA, fencing, and the indoor soccer team.