The Case for Field Trips

So this week I went on two field trips...

One as the teacher who coordinated the trip, taking almost 20 teenagers to a Holocaust conference,

The other as a parent, chaperoning a group of four 3rd graders to the Knoxville zoo.

Though these two trips were as different as my roles and responsibilities on them, both had the same effect on me.

We have to preserve field trips in the educational setting. I understand all of the downsides to them, especially from the teacher's perspective. Every. single. time. I take one, I struggle about halfway through the process with giving up and canceling it.

For the uninitiated, here is what goes on behind the scenes each time you sign a permission slip for your child to go on a field trip:

• Research of the field trip, from location to transportation to dates and times, etc.
• Plans made in regard to time, other people involved, etc.
• If the field trip has a cost, you cannot require students to pay. Therefore, you have to decide on an amount to ask for donations, then figure out the plan if you DON'T get enough money. Options would be to cancel the trip or seek alternative funding. 
• Field trip approval form completed and submitted to school administrator
• If field trip is an overnight, it must be submitted to the school board for approval. If not, it's in-house.
• Transportation-- if you are using charter busses, book the busses and figure out funding. If school busses, you have to decide who you are using. If it's city, they have to be back by the time the school day ends. If you need them longer, you have to find an independent contractor and work on funding. If you choose instead to use teacher/parent transportation, you must submit proof of driver's license and insurance to the school for each driver. You need to recruit parents who are willing to drive and use their own gas, perhaps pay for parking, and give up time. Once you hear of the approval by the school for each driver, you can then determine how many students can ride with each parent.
• Participants-- you have to find out which students are going on the trip, send home a permission form and also give students a form to get filled out by teachers at the school for classes they miss. You then have to collect all forms and money.
• Wherever the field trip is, you need to either register students, buy tickets, or plan with the venue.
• A list of students must be sent to the attendance secretary ten days before the trip.
• Forms must also be submitted to the cafeteria.
• It is only after all of these steps have been taken that you are then free to simply stress over the trip.
• The night before a field trip is almost always spent worrying that something important was not done, that you don't have good directions, that an accident will happen, that some other issue will arise.
• Most often, teachers pay for their own gas and their own admission to the trip.
• You almost must book a sub and leave lesson plans for other classes for that sub (on the high school level).
• The day of the trip is spent dealing with students you took with you on the trip while also often trouble-shooting things at school.
• If the trip extends past the school day, it's all your own time.

So ... field trips? They are a JOB for teachers. They are incredibly stressful and often feel like they aren't worth the trouble. That is, until they are over. 

I come home from this Holocaust Conference every year feeling so very grateful for so many things. First of all, that the Tennessee Holocaust Commission puts this conference on every year for high school students. Secondly, that I have students who care enough about the things that matter to go on the trip even though it takes about three hours of time after school and means that they have to get to school at 6 AM. Finally, that I took the time and energy to plan the trip even though it is a giant pain. 

It is an invaluable experience for students to get outside the walls of the school and extend their educational experience. Because you see, whether they are high schoolers who are hearing Holocaust survivors tell their stories for what may be the last times or those third graders, some of who have never been outside of Bradley County, seeing animals and hearing a presentation on habitats, it's something that cannot be replicated in the classroom.

No matter now much work it is for the teacher or how much expense there is for the trips, they must continue to happen. I believe this should be a consideration of philanthropists and companies who are donating money to schools-- donate money and fund field trips! I am concerned that the way of the future is going to be away from field trips, and I desperately hope that is not the case. Hearing those kids giggle at the giraffes and squeal when the bear lumbered by is enough for me... 

Teachers, thank you. Thank you for doing all the hard work to make every single field trip my elementary school daughters have ever been on. It has truly enhanced their education. Administrators, thank YOU. Thank you for seeing the significance of these trips and willingly approving them. School board, thank you. Thank you for understanding that some trips require an overnight stay and being willing to accept liability issues that are more possible with longer trips. And parents, because times are changing in regard to funding and payment for the trips, thank you for your willingness to donate toward these trips. If you can ever donate extra and pay for multiple students, please do. It makes all the difference to these teachers and these students.