Twenty-seven high school students from Brockville are in Boston right now on a school field trip. They're cutting their trip short; on their way back right now. Others in Boston from the Ottawa area may want to leave but can't.
For students at Brockville Collegiate Institute, their trip had been planned for months: a three-day trip to one of the oldest cities in the United States. Then, Monday, two deadly explosions at the finish line of the Boston marathon that sparked a massive manhunt for the killers.
The students and staff at the high school had some quick decisions to make: do they cancel the trip or go ahead as planned. Thursday morning at 9 a.m., twenty-seven students and three teachers piled into a bus and headed for Boston. Kathy Kelly’s son Alex is part of the group of grade 11 and 12 students.
"As a parent you're thinking is my child safe, are they going to be safe where they go,” said Kathy Kelly outside the Brockville high school today, “We don't know where this man is, what his intentions are, nobody knows what he could do next. He could be where they're going.
Each of the students was given the option Thursday to cancel if he or she wanted. None did. The school's principal says the group is safe. Their hotel is half an hour from Watertown. Still, the decision was made to cut the trip short and head home tonight.
“They're disappointed the field trip has been cut short, says Brockville Collegiate Institute principal Bill Loshaw, “but in no way are they indicating that they're stressed or worried about their safety.”
Ottawa’s Olivia Taggart is in lockdown inside her Boston area apartment. The 22-year-old is studying journalism at Northeastern University. She is two kilometres from the heart of the chaos.
"I wasn't scared until today,” says Taggart. “It seems like they had everything under control and they still do, they are doing a good job with it. But the fact it's a major city and it's shut down so police can do their job is pretty amazing but it's definitely nerve racking
Taggart is supposed to come home tomorrow to see a Senators’ game but with the area still in lockdown, she's not too hopeful that's going to happen.
