Rick, Stephanie, Juliana, Richie, and Shari Sapp can’t hide the smiles after being reunited.
All 15-year-old Stephanie Stapp (second from left) really wanted after being greeted by her family was some home cooked food. “Tacos sound so good. Mexican food,” she said wistfully between rounds of questions from reporters.
Stephanie, whose father Rick Sapp is the chairman of the board of the Pacific Ridge School, was among the ten students and two teachers who arrived home to the school’s Carlsbad campus tonight around 7:30 PM as part of the first wave of students returning home after their entire school trip had been quarantined in Yichang, China for the H1N1 virus. Three of these returning students had been in the hospital.
The trip was scheduled for 13 days, however it went a little overtime when several of the students fell ill during a river cruise to the Three Gorges Dam.
After those illnesses were reported to the Chinese government the entire group of 35 students and seven faculty were quarantined in the city of Yichang, China.
“We were five days later than we should have been,” Stephanie explained to reporters. “We got to see Shanghai for one day, but we didn’t end up doing the home stays.”
More students will be arriving at the school tonight a little after midnight, and five others who tested positive for Swine Flu earlier this month are still in the hospital in Yichang, China. According to student John Ballif, 15, some of those may be home as early as next week.
Balloons, hugs, smiles, and tears of joy greeted ten students and two teachers as they finally arrived back at Carlsbad’s Pacific Ridge School after days in quarantine.
A group of Carlsbadistan’sPacific Ridge School ninth grade students are getting a little longer tour of China than they expected after 35 students and seven faculty members were quarantined in China while being tested for swine flu, according to a story in the North County Times.
The group was in China for a 13-day educational tour that began June 2 when some of the students developed mild symptoms, including upset stomach and sniffles, according to school head Eileen Mullady. . . . On Thursday, in compliance with the Chinese government and World Health Organization protocols, the group was quarantined in its hotel.
Parents are hoping to have the kids home sometime next week.
Carlsbadistan’sPacific Ridge School received much media attention last June when their students were quarantined in China for the H1N1 flu. Earlier this month, however, 18 of the school’s students were recognized for something a less viral.
“We are extremely proud of every student that attended this year’s Stanford MUN Conference,” said Scott Silk and Liz Grossman, faculty advisors from Pacific Ridge School. “The award for ‘Best Small School Delegation’ was the result of our students being well prepared, demonstrating effective listening skills, and offering well developed resolutions to the conflicts presented.”
It nice of these students to remind the rest of the world that Carlsbadistan has more to offer than simply surfers and septuagenarians.
Carlsbadistan’s Pacific Ridge School students John Ballif, 15, and Stephanie Sapp, 15, talk to reporters about what it was like to be quarantined in Yichang, China for Swine Flu and how it feels to finally be back home and out of solitary confinement.
Twenty-nine students and five teachers who had been held in Swine Flu quarantine will be arriving back at the Pacific Ridge Campus tonight June 20, 2009, according to representatives.
Pacific Ridge School is pleased to report that our students and teachers are en route from Shanghai to LAX and are expected to arrive at the Pacific Ridge School campus on Saturday, June 20, 2009 at approximately 8:30 p.m. (PDT) and Sunday, June 21, 2009 at approximately 12:30 a.m. (PDT).
We welcome these students home and send best wishes to the students and teachers who are still in China.
Pacific Ridge School is pleased to report that as of Thursday morning (PDT), 26 students and five teachers were discharged from the hotel, and another three students and one teacher who tested negative for H1N1 were discharged from the hospital. Six students and one teacher who tested positive for H1N1 are still in quarantine in the hospital awaiting final testing before discharge. The school expects their discharge within the next three to five days. One discharged teacher will remain in a nearby hotel in Yichang to support the remaining quarantined students and teacher.
The discharged students and teachers will travel to Shanghai, where they will depart on Saturday (PDT). Travel arrangements are still being finalized, including arrival cities and times.
At an afternoon press conference June 15, 2009 at 2:30 PM at Carlsbad’s Pacific Ridge School Dr. Eileen Mullady, the Head of the School, (pictured right) and Rick Sapp, Chair of the school’s Board of Trustees, gave reporters an update on the 35 students and seven faculty members who are currently being held in swine flu quarantine in Yichang, China after several students and teacher got sick during their 13-day educational tour:
Since the evaluations on June 11, we have nine students and two teachers currently in a hospital in the city of Yichang undergoing further evaluation. Our remaining 26 students and five teachers are quarantined in a nearby hotel. We have been told that seven people [six students and one teacher] have tested positive for H1N1 on the initial screenings and they are recovering. Our teachers have informed us that in the last 24 hours, there have been no additional confirmed cases of H1N1 in our group.
Unfortunately, Mullady did not know when the students and teachers would return home. “We could have students out of quarantine by the end of the week.”
If you have a Carlsbad news story, press release, event, rumor, or scandal that we'd be interested in (and there are a lot of them), please click the link to send them to The Editors.
Or just search the site to see if we've mentioned it before, right here.
The trip was scheduled for 13 days, however it went a little overtime when several of the students fell ill during a river cruise to the Three Gorges Dam. 
RSS Feed-Posts