DOUGLAS – Forty-eight Coffee County High School seniors cheated out of a senior trip last weekend got one after all, albeit a shorter one.
The seniors, left waiting Friday for a bus to Disney World in Orlando that never came, were at Valdosta State Univer-sity Tuesday night as guests at a luau for university staff, faculty and students, VSU spokeswoman Jennifer Tanner said.
The idea to invite the Coffee County students came from Jimmy Fields, a student who helps plan special events at the university, Tanner said.
"When he saw the story about the kids who got taken for $250 apiece, he felt bad for them," Tanner said.
The students knew about the luau, but there was another surprise for them Tuesday night. Jimmy Holmes, a spokes-man for Wild Adventures, a Valdosta theme park with roller coasters and other rides, told the students they were to re-ceive a free day at the park May 17.
After hearing of the seniors’ loss of their Grad Nite trip, Wild Adventures "felt horrible that this would be one of your last memories of your senior year," Holmes said in a state-ment.
On Grad Nite, high school seniors roam Disney’s Magic Kingdom past midnight with students from other schools. The Coffee County students had paid in advance for the trip and a bus supposedly arranged by substitute teacher Crystal "Christy" Wise, 39, of Broxton, police said.
The bus never came and Douglas police arrested Wise and charged her with stealing almost $7,500 from the students. Wise had successfully arranged other trips, Greg Tanner, principal of Coffee County High, told the Times-Union ear-lier.
The school system provided transportation and the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office gave the high school stu-dents an escort to the VSU campus.
The luau was held between the end of university classes and upcoming final exams, Jennifer Tanner said.
The event included complimentary luau attire, such as grass skirts, for early arrivals, she said. Food included ribs, chicken, hamburgers, snacks and vegetarian entrees for those who wanted them, she said.
