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Area holds wealth of possibilities for educational field trips
By TONYA SHIPLEY
Staff Writer
Staff Writer
For the sixth-graders at Wilson Elementary, their recent field trip to an Earthship house owned by Jay and Annie Warmke of Philo, was a way to learn aspects of science in an environment outside of the classroom.
School field trips are not about giving students an excuse to get out of school, they're about supplementing the classroom lessons and meeting academic content standards, educators say.
And many of these field trips can be done within the area.
Meeting the standards
"Field trips have value," said Joanna Duncan, educational director at The John and Annie Glenn Historic Site in New Concord.
Duncan was hired earlier this year to help coordinate school trips into the historic site. To do this, Duncan has traveled to school districts to speak to administrators and teachers about how the site can be used to fit into their educational plans. She does so armed with handouts outlining how Ohio's Academic Content Standards can be met.
For example, fourth-graders are required to learn about Ohio history. The site is the boyhood home of former astronaut and ex-U.S. Sen. John Glenn. It features a combination of exhibits, a living history component and other media to tell not only the Glenns' story, but show what life was like in the 1940s.
One of the benchmarks, according to the state standards, is that fourth-graders must meet is to learn about how citizens can participate in government and "explain the importance of leadership and public service."John Glenn can be used as an example.
But it's not just history. The site has outlined how standards can be met for science, English language arts and mathematics.
Barb Bradley, assistant superintendent of West Muskingum Local Schools, said when Duncan approached the district about possible field trips to the site, she gave them an invitation to help them make up their minds. The teachers were invited to come experience the trip as if they were the students.
"I think it helps the teachers because they can see it and ask themselves, 'How can it supplement what I am doing in the classroom, and how can it meet the indicators?' " Bradley said.
When teachers are requesting to take students on a field trip, Bradley said proposals turned into the district office have to explain why the trip would help meet standards.
According to Bradley, teachers work with students ahead of time on standards the trip will help meet. After the trip they do follow-up work where they can use examples from the trip to explain indicators in class.
"Field trips aren't frivolous. They have meaning," she said.
Costs a consideration
Even when the teachers can't take the students away, Bradley said it's possible to bring groups into the school like the COSI on Wheels program, where students can learn aspects of science without traveling to Columbus.
Duncan taught sixth grade at Wilson Elementary for 31 years. Back then she tried to take her students on field trips -- even if only to the county courthouse -- as along as she could show the students the value of taking a trip. By staying local, she said schools are also saving on a valuable resource -- money.
With continued cuts to budgets, schools can't always afford to send students on field trips, and the burden often falls on parents. Throughout the school year, students are involved in a host of fund-raising activities for these trips. Eighth-graders at West Muskingum Middle School recently hosted a spaghetti dinner to help defray the costs of a trip to Washington D.C. in May.
But even trips within a 50-mile radius are going to cost for fuel, admission prices and sometimes meals.
Carrie Biles, a parent of students at McIntire Elementary and president of the PTO, said the average field trips the school takes can range between $150 to $2,700. Fortunately, she said in addition to the fund raising, area businesses have been generous in helping them with costs.
When Wilson Elementary's sixth-graders went to the Earthship, a dwelling that uses all recyclable and reusable items including tires and aluminum cans, they did it with a grant from the Ohio Appalachian Center for Higher Education.
Ann Knight, Wilson guidance counselor, applied for the grant. It gives the school $8,000 annually for two years to be used for educational trips to encourage students to go onto higher education. Knight often takes students on trips to colleges, where they get their first glimpses of what college life would be like. The students get to see dorm rooms and even eat in the cafeterias.
Inventive learning
Parents aren't just helping pay for the trips though. In the case of McIntire Elementary, the parents are actively involved in helping choose the appropriate types of trips. Biles said parents will come up with an idea for a trip, research it and propose the trip to the teachers, who in turn check to see if it falls into the academic content standards.
"The students have to meet so many standards in science and social studies, and these trips are a way for them to learn while they are having fun," Biles said.
She has even taken her two children -- a first-grader and a fourth-grader -- on a trip first to research it for the school.
The students have gone on trips to COSI, Dawes Arboretum, a butterfly exhibit, the Columbus Zoo, performances of "Tecumseh" and even pumpkin patches. A trip to the pumpkin patch can be an educational experience for the younger children because the teachers can do activities such as counting or weighing the pumpkins, which falls into mathematics. Or children can learn about how to grow pumpkins, which falls under science.
Knight said trips like the one to the Earthship can be used serve the purpose of continuing their education.
"The kids are seeing firsthand how knowledge can be used. It might serve to give them an idea that they want to go on and study science," she said.
"I learned a lot," said Evan Smith, 11. "I learned about thermal mass, which was interesting because it helps heat their house."
Annie Warmke told students how the house -- in which 1,200 350-pound used tires were used in constructing the walls -- will stay in the 50s even in the winter. The tires and the cans used in the walls help trap the heat. The house also was positioned in a way to make the most use out of the sun.
Ours liked making the brush fence, which is being built on one end of the Warmkes' property. The fence makes use of sticks and branches to form a wall of wood which will last 100 years.
"It's cool to think that it will last that long. It doesn't seem like it should," he said.
Marketing the area
Charlene McCord, a member of the Morgan County Historical Society, would like to see more schools in the area take advantage of area sites when going on field trips.
"We will accommodate the schools in any way we can," McCord said.
From the Historic Opera House and Button House in McConnelsville to a one-room school house where students can experience an old-fashioned education, McCord said the students will have fun and learn at the same time.
McCord said people often think of field trips as going to Columbus for COSI or the zoo or to Washington D.C. She said Morgan County would like to see more school or community groups take advantage of the area's rich history.
Like Duncan, McCord said she is willing to have parents or teachers come down to Morgan County and see the sites before they plan a trip. "We'd be thrilled to have them," she said.
Originally published Friday, November 5, 2004
Annie with NBC affiliate reporter doing a live broadcast from Blue Rock Station
