I teach in an inner city school with students who live in a very narrow territory. Each year, we try to broaden their horizons by taking them to as many places as possible. These are the fieldtrips we have planned for the students this year:
September
local college, yearbook printing plant, major department store
October
bottling plant, UC campus, local water treatment plant, various job shadowing locations
November
students will spend a day working for a local department store, wholesale buying trip
December
city hall, federal court house, corporate office of major department store, trade fair
January
San Francisco
February
GAP distribution center, local baseball stadium, printing firm, surveillance camera factory
March
San Jose, trade fair, ropes course
April
Sacramento, Monterey, NYC (depending on cost)
Not all students attend each trip each year, but by the time they finish their senior year, the majority of the students have taken all these trips. The San Francisco trip is for those who earn a 3.0 gpa or higher in the first semester, and some students go all three years they are in our career academy, some never get to go.
We get to know a lot of bus drivers throughout the years, and one turned out to be the parent of one of our graduates this year. He approached me, introduced himself, at graduation and reminded me that he had taken us on many of our local trips. I know how hard bus drivers work, especially when they have to deal with a bus full of teenagers and negotiate the roads. My students are usually professionally dressed for the trips we take, and they behave well. I have taught them to say hello to the driver, and to thank the driver when we are done. This father had remembered all of this, and he told me that he always went home at night, after one of our trips, and told his wife how nice I was. It made me glad to know that we weren’t a burden on a driver, but rather, made his day a little better. Sometimes, maybe, the fieldtrips help more than just my students.
5 responses so far ↓
Melissa B. // July 1, 2008 at 12:38 am |
Wow, I’m impressed! I’d like to sit in on your classes sometime! Thanks for contributing to my spur-of-the-moment Silly Sunday Sweepstakes. The post was so popular, I think I’ll make it a regular item! I’d like to send you a small token for participating. Shoot me an e-mail at scholastic_scribe@hotmail.com, & I’ll get it to ya! Also, thanks for your kind comments on my daughter’s internship. Her dad & I are awfully proud of her!
Kathy // July 1, 2008 at 1:07 am |
It sounds like you do a great job of exposing your students to a wide variety of experiences.
Do they have to pay for any of it or does the school district pick up the tab?
dkzody // July 1, 2008 at 2:52 am |
We are very blessed, indeed. Since 1991 we have been a California Partnership Academy which gives us an extra $81k each year for just such activities. We also have our own secretary (who is the best).
The kids have to buy their own lunch and snacks when we travel out of town. A few of the local trips include lunch, otherwise we get back in time for lunch. Our entire school is free lunch, so I do get some complaints when the kids have to buy their own food. I point out that the charter bus is free for them.
certainabsurdity // July 2, 2008 at 4:31 am |
It is so great that you can do that many field trips with your kids. And they’re all super cool locations to top it off!
Christmas in Malaysia « Dkzody’s Weblog // December 24, 2008 at 4:21 pm |
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