The Bus


If there's no money for field trips, some ask, why are the sports teams taking the buses off to sports events? But others say that the sports teams bring in money. But then others say that track does not, nor does tennis. And some others ask why aren't the sports teams taking smaller vans to sporting events? Then others say if you take away buses for field trips, shouldn't we restrict the more affluent schools from having parents pay for trips? And then other people ask, "Don't the downtown schools get an advantage in that they can walk to cool sites and the fringe schools can not?" Everything breaks down at the bus stop.
I recognize that the field trip bus is a rich site for sociological considerations. But here's the thing. I'm not a huge field trip fan. The zillions of phone calls to get them arranged, the fear of kids getting gored by cows at the petting zoo, the loud obnoxious singing. If they have to take something away from me, I'll hand this one over. Goodbye Field Trips. Be well. Posted by Picasa
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Undomestic said…
My field trip arranging horror story. My NJ middle school was very into field trips...day, night, educational, social, etc. Felt it helped develop the whole child. Generally, I enjoyed them, unless I was the planner.

Many teams went on a night trip to this Haunted Hayride and Haunted house place. All the parents came and dropped the kids off because the trip was taking place long after school ended. At about 10 minutes before we were ready to leave, I was looking over my paper work and discovered that I had ordered the busses for the FOLLOWING night! Yikes, I panicked! We spent a lot of time trying to contact transportation services (after hours) and the bus company, etc. But we couldn't get transportation. The following day was a vacation day, so we couldn't go then. We had to call all the parents and arrange for them to come get their kids...which took a really long time for some of them.

Then, feeling so bad and just plain stupid, I was able to arrange another date at the haunted place and secure transportation. However, the date we were going was Monday...and because of the 2 day break, the kids wouldn't be back in school until that date. So I personally called over 120 parents to let them know about the change and to gain verbal permission from them to allow their children to go. What a mess it was.
9:33 PM
LH said…
c, this is a nightmare. it really sounds like something in a dream doesn't it? i've had a few field trip horrors. one of the worst was taking 35 first graders on the streetcar to the sausalito ferry because they were having a deal that you could ride a ferry for a dime one day. the street car ride was long causing several kids to pee their pants and the ferry made several kids vomit. plus there was a dad who took pictures of me with his kid all day long, documenting her first first grade field trip. the guy probably took 300 pictures of me that day. my friend janet came too and we both headed directly out for some bevvies after that fiasco.
6:35 AM
hr said…
I'm doing a field trip this Thurs. to the public library. We can take the city bus, which is nice, but involves its own set of worries.
12:36 PM
Anonymous said…
I remember the kindergarten field trip to French Lick to ride on the old fashioned train. After an hour and a half bus ride, we put these five-year-olds on a train and made them sit another hour and a half, then back on the bus for home! I think we stopped at the MickyD in Bedford, where they were so sick of being still, that they really acted up, just what you would expect from this age group. That trip was never repeated as far as I know. Susan
3:49 PM
Anonymous said…
Those blogs just CRACKED me UP!!!!! I, personally, am not brave enough to accompany field-trippers................I do, however, wish Lee & Peter happiness in their older age!!!!
6:35 PM
Julie Anna said…
Here is my take on fieldtrips: I think the intention is good, but reality falls far short in most cases. I always ask my kids how the field trip was and almost always get "it was ok" and sometimes get "it was really boring" or "all we did was ride the bus, stay there a little bit, and ride the bus back". I've been on a million-point-five field trips, never thought the kids got all THAT much out of it, saw that it was horror for most teachers, and felt that parents could handle this aspect of their kids' education much better. If only all parents would or could, I guess.
11:01 AM
LH said…
Susan, Love the French Lick story.
Hi ms. Beth thanks for the birthday wishes. We've had birthday blasting this whole week. tons o fun.
julie, great job adding the parent perspective. Last year i went on a field trip with q's class and i ended up yelling at a kid teacher style. i learned that i'm not a good helper on a field trip. in my defense, the kid was up in a loft space at an apple orchard, was swinging the suspended lamps back and forth, had blown out one bulb and was working on the second one. I had to put a stop to that.
7:28 AM
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