Eight Evansville Sixth-Graders Win Disney Trip
Selected students and two staff from Joshua Academy will travel to Walt Disney World in January 2027, with police chaperones.
Updated on Nov. 3, 2026 in Pre-Teens
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Joshua Academy Charter School in Evansville will send eight sixth-grade students and two staff members on an all-expenses-paid trip to Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, in January 2027. The students learned of the trip at a surprise reveal held with Cops Connecting with Kids representatives and Evansville Police Department chaperones.
Why it matters
The trip is the first partnership between Joshua Academy, in its more than 20-year history, and Cops Connecting with Kids, a program designed to strengthen relationships between law enforcement and the communities they serve. Its stated purpose is to build trust and positive relationships between students and police officers through shared experiences.
Cops Connecting with Kids is a program aimed at building relationships between police and young people, and this trip is its first partnership with Joshua Academy. The source does not report any outcome data from the program's prior work.
The players
Joshua Academy Charter School
A charter school in Evansville, Indiana, serving students in grades including sixth grade, and the host of the trip.
Cops Connecting with Kids
A program that works to strengthen relationships between law enforcement and the communities they serve, partnering with schools on youth engagement.
Evansville Police Department
The municipal police agency serving Evansville, Indiana, which provided chaperones for the student reveal.
The details
Joshua Academy hosted a surprise student reveal on Tuesday at 1 p.m., attended by Cops Connecting with Kids representatives and Evansville Police Department chaperones. The eight selected students did not know they would be going to Disney World until the reveal. Students' families were invited to attend the event. The trip is all-expenses-paid and is scheduled for January 2027.
Timeline
Tuesday at 1 p.m.: Surprise student reveal of the Disney World trip.
January 2027: Students and staff travel to Walt Disney World.
Community Trust
The partnership applies Cops Connecting with Kids' stated goal of building law enforcement relationships with the communities they serve to a classroom setting in Evansville. It marks the first such partnership for Joshua Academy in its more than 20-year history.
Parents of sixth-graders may find this a useful moment to talk with their child about positive experiences with police and what respectful interactions look like. The trip is one example of a school-based activity that builds social connection for pre-teens.
The takeaway
Structured, shared experiences outside the classroom can help pre-teens build comfort and trust with adults in their community. Families who want to encourage this can ask their child's school about similar youth engagement programs.
Further reading
For more on raising kids through these years, see Pre-Teens coverage.
Source note: This article includes information reported by 14news.
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