NHS Students Climb Mt. Kilimanjaro

Mount Kilimanjaro is the tallest free-standing mountain rise in the world. It rises 15, 100 feet from its base and includes the highest peak in Africa at 19,340 feet. Last summer, several students (including alumni) from Newnan High climbed Mount Kilimanjaro for a charity event. Two of those students included seniors Patrick Strane and Matthew Craddock.

Patrick decided to climb Kilimanjaro because he wanted "to help all of the children in Africa through a charity. I also wanted to do it for fun." Matt climbed it "to experience something new and to see a different part of the world."

Craddock described the experience as "incredible. It's like nothing I have ever seen before." Strane had similar thoughts about his experience. "It was amazing and so cold! It was minus 50 degrees F!"

Both Patrick and Matt said there were good and bad things about Kilimanjaro. "The best part was reaching the summit. The worst part was the 20 mile jog down in one day," said Patrick. Matt thought that "the best part was the scenery, and the worst part was the wet gear from the rain."

I think the best part of Patrick's and Matt's interview was their response to one question about travel. I asked them, "If Delta handed you an all-expense paid ticket to anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?" Both Patrick and Matt said they would like to go to New Zealand or Tibet. Patrick said he wants to go to New Zealand "to hike on the non-high elevation mountains," and he wants to go to Tibet to "climb Mount Everest."

It truly is amazing that our fellow students can accomplish such great feats. It is even better that NHS students strive to do bigger and better things, and they want to make a big impact on their community and the world.

--Whitney Black, Editor-in-Chief