‘Full circle moment’ Organizers rave about success of Tecumseh’s Senior Mystery Trip

By BRAD HEINEMAN

bradh@tecumsehherald.com

Tecumseh High School graduated its Class of 2026 almost one month ago, but the memories from a specific event that celebrated the seniors’ accomplishment — besides commencement — are still resonating.

The high school’s Senior Mystery Trip, which was a daylong adventure May 17 for organizers and especially the senior students, carried over into the midnight hour May 18, concluding in a “super cool way” for the trip to end.

 “I received a message from a parent who was on the Senior Mystery Trip committee,” recalled Gina Nowak, owner of G&J’s Frosty Boy of Tecumseh. “She asked if we would consider opening up the shop around 11:30 p.m. when the kids returned to Tecumseh from their mystery trip. She thought it would be a super cool way to end the trip. Many of (the students) came to Frosty Boy on classroom visits during their elementary/middle school years. I told her I would consider it but in my head I thought, ‘This lady is crazy.’ Then, the more I thought about, I realized that it would be a super cool way to end the trip.”

That parent who reached out to Nowak on behalf of the Senior Mystery Trip committee, Andrea Sturm, called it a “full circle moment” for many of the high school seniors to conclude their entire day of celebrations with a visit to their hometown ice cream shop.

“We started planning in January,” Sturm said of the committee efforts to make this year’s rendition of the mystery trip a reality. “…The trip involved our local ice cream shop, G&J’s Frosty Boy, along with its owner Gina, who so graciously opened her shop. We were able to stop close to midnight having a full circle moment with many of our Tecumseh seniors who have stopped there many years along the way as part of Tecumseh Public Schools field trips that many of them have attended.”

The mystery trip started at 6:15 a.m. with breakfast at the high school and then a visit to Topgolf in Auburn Hills, which was followed by treks to C.J. Barrymore’s Family Entertainment Center in Macomb County, a comedy show and then a cruise on the Detroit River courtesy of the Detroit Princess Riverboat. As a mystery trip, the high school seniors were none the wiser to what was planned for them throughout the day’s itinerary — not even Sturm’s son, Alex, who will be heading to Eastern Michigan University in the fall to begin his studies in aviation management.

“They kept guessing throughout the day,” Sturm said.

To ensure the most memorable day could be experienced, mystery trip organizers eyed destinations that were within a three- to four-hour drive, Sturm said. Ideas were considered about visits to Chicago or Cleveland, but it was eventually decided to make the Detroit area the mystery trip destination of choice.

Nowak said there was a limited menu of ice cream novelties the students could order when they arrived at Frosty Boy — choosing between a medium ice cream cone, a one-topping sundae and a glacier. But really, the whole concept of the mystery trip ending at Frosty Boy was to highlight the community relationships and memories formed over the years.

“From spending so much time in this school district, the kids in Tecumseh are intermingled,” Sturm said. “They are such good kids.”

“We are very blessed with a lot of support, but I also think we give out a lot of support,” Nowak added.

To help accommodate the ice cream orders from nearly 150 people, Nowak recruited the help of her daughter, Bailey, and her mother, Chris Francis. Between the three of them, they were able to get all orders taken care of within 40 minutes.

“We talked with Andrea and went through the details,” Nowak said. “She was going to text me when the buses were a half-hour away. We got the text at 11:02 p.m. so (we) got up to the shop shortly after. I changed the sign out in the dark to welcome them. That was pretty interesting. 

“It took us about 40 minutes to get through all the kids and volunteers,” Nowak continued. “They were all exhausted, for sure, but they seemed to enjoy their treats. We were very happy to be a small part of their day.”

Bailey Nowak, a Class of 2018 grad from Tecumseh High School, called the school’s Senior Mystery Trip a “bittersweet” moment for each student who gets to experience it. 

“Don’t forget where you come from,” was a word of advice from Bailey, who detailed that her Senior Mystery Trip eight years ago included a visit to a bounce house location in Ann Arbor, a trip to the Detroit Zoo and then a cruise on the Detroit Princess Riverboat. Bailey added she is hoping most of the high school seniors will cherish the memories of their Tecumseh school years — and mystery trip — fondly.

Nowak said agreeing to be a part of the mystery trip adventure turned out to be a “magical” experience.

“Seeing those three buses turning into the parking lot at 11:30 at night was something,” she said. “It turned out to be a really neat experience, and I’ve loved the feedback from parents and the kids saying how cool their day was.”

Social media’s reception of the mystery trip ending at Frosty Boy was also positive.

As of Tuesday evening, a May 18 post on the G&J’s Frosty Boy of Tecumseh Facebook page describing how the Senior Mystery Trip ended up at the ice cream shop has 1,400 reactions, more than 220 comments and at least 40 shares.

“I would have to say, it’s been our most popular (social media) post we have put out there,” Nowak said. “…People come by the shop and still talk about the success of the event.”

With her next son, Brycen, graduating with the Class of 2029, Sturm said she’s not wanting to rush things, but she’s excited about the possibility of planning another Senior Mystery Trip for her next Tecumseh Public Schools graduate.