Seven Keys to Running a Successful Trip
By: Tom Kropidlowski
Educational travel has become an essential aspect of the learning program at Seton Catholic Middle School, where I am a teacher, but we have also realized that there are a number of steps to take if the trip is to be both academically sound and enjoyable for students.
For 16 years, we have taken our eighth graders on a four-day educational trip to Washington, D.C., and not only does seeing the nation’s capital bring classroom lessons alive, this trip has had a life-altering impact on some of our youngsters. Our school is in a small community in Wisconsin, and many of our students are searching for career opportunities that are available to them either through a university education or in the job market. This trip opens doors for their futures.
Educational travel reinforces what students are taught in the classroom, which helps them remember lessons for much longer periods of time, exposes them to new areas, and teaches them “life lessons” ranging from how to order in a restaurant to dealing with diverse groups of people. However, the wise educator looks at what makes a trip valuable before ever hitting the road.
There are seven keys to running a successful educational trip—a trip that will be pleasing to the students, educationally sound, and effectively administered.
1. Make sure parents are fully informed about and actively involved in the trip.
Parents can play crucial roles in making any trip successful. First, they should know about the trip, the educational value their students can receive through participating in it, and the opportunity for them to join the trip.
We like to involve parents as chaperones on our trips, and they become ambassadors for educational travel once they see the learning opportunities provided their youngsters. Parents will alert others in the community to the value of travel, encourage their students to participate in future travel, and talk about the program at work and in social gatherings.
When we plan a travel program, we make sure to send out a letter to the parents of students who will be involved, describing the trip to them and inviting them to participate as chaperones. On the trip, they are assigned minor roles, such as checking on students to make sure they are in their rooms at the appropriate time at night, handing out food coupons, and simply being available to students if they have questions. In return, they are able to benefit from the trip, learning information from professional tour guides that they wouldn’t gain if they traveled on their own.
While some may question whether young adolescents rebel at the thought of having their parents join them on a field trip, our experience is just the opposite. Students may not volunteer their parents as chaperones, but on the trip, they interact with their parents and encourage their peers to do the same. After the trip, many students indicate that it “was very special” that their parents wanted to be involved.
2. Include the school staff in your travel program.
We always invite our principal and at least one staff member to join our travel program, and that has provided two benefits. First, they see firsthand the educational benefits of the travel experience. While I can tell them that students will gain academically by traveling to the nation’s capital, once they see what students gain, they are much more likely to support future educational travel. Teachers and administrators see that travel is worth supporting on a school-wide basis.
Second, they become promoters of the travel experience and communicate to students and parents the value of future travel activities.
3. Be certain that the trip is pertinent to the curriculum and that everyone understands that connection.
In the 16 years I have taken students on educational trips to Washington, D.C., educators and parents at our school have learned that educational travel is essential to a complete education. They see that students’ knowledge grows through travel and what they learn during the trip stays with them for extended periods of time. Teachers, however, must ensure that the trip ties directly to what they are teaching.
We have units on the civil rights movement and the Holocaust, which are supported strongly when students travel to Washington, D.C. When they stand on the steps on the Lincoln Monument, they can visualize Dr. King’s moving speech; when they walk silently through the Holocaust Museum, the plight of Jewish prisoners becomes more than simply hearing a lecture in the classroom. These experiences bring classroom lessons to life, and they remain with our students throughout their lives.
We also work to integrate our travel program into the school’s curriculum. While it’s obvious how my history curriculum is supported by our trip to Washington, D.C., it also is an important part of our language arts curriculum. For example, students read about the Holocaust months before our trip and have to envision a portion of the museum and create a display of it based on what they have learned. This lesson prepares them for the trip.
4. Display materials from previous trips in your classroom.
During the school year, I’ll display various materials from our trips in our classroom, ranging from a bust of George Washington that came from Mount Vernon to posters of monuments to photos I’ve taken. Sooner or later, students will ask about these items, and a conversation naturally develops about what will be seen on the trip. The conversation will spark their interest, and they’ll be able to relate the display items to lessons in the classroom. It’s a great way to build excitement about the trip.
Once we seek sign-ups for the trip, we have a bulletin board in our classroom that has a countdown until we leave and a list of the students and parents who will be going. Again, this builds interest and motivates students to focus on lessons that relate to the trip.
5. Provide a video remembrance of the trip for participants.
I take photos with a video camera on the trip and edit the footage onto a DVD, which is made available at cost to all students who participated. While we initially thought this would be a good “memory” for the students, it has also turned into a powerful promotional tool for future educational travel. Students show the video to their younger siblings and friends, who then start developing an interest in “traveling to Washington.” I didn’t realize how important this video was to the students until this year when I neglected to include footage from a stop at a pizza place. Once the DVD was out, students said to me, “Where’s the pizza?”
6. Be sure to maintain a philosophy that no student should be excluded.
We know that educational travel is so important to a student’s learning that we strive to make sure any youngster who wants to participate has the opportunity. That can be a financial issue with many of our young people, so it’s important to develop a fundraising component. When the students have a role in the raising of funds, they also learn responsibility. We have built a scholarship fund that was greatly assisted by one of our parents who has seen the value of student travel. This fund has helped three or four students every year on our Washington trip.
While finances may appeared to be the major roadblock to full participation, there are some parents who question the wisdom of their child being so far away from home. This is another reason to emphasis communication with parents and build a cadre of parents who value educational value and will discuss its benefits with other parents.
7. Seek resources that will support your students and your trip.
There are a number of resources that can assist you in developing an educationally sound trip and, frankly, make your life easier. As an example, the Student & Youth Travel Association (SYTA) provides considerable free information on its Web site, www.syta.org, including tips on trip planning, safety cautions, and links to other Web sites that provide important information. The SYTA Youth Foundation offers scholarships for students who need financial support for educational travel. One of our students received a SYF “Road” Scholarship, which made his participation in our trip possible.
We also have found that using a professional trip planner can head off potential problems when traveling. These people are experienced in working with school groups, know the best hotels for young people, and have found the most knowledgeable tour guides, among other very helpful information.
Educational travel has become an essential part of the learning program at Seton Catholic Middle School. And we’ve found these seven guidelines go a long way in making the trip enjoyable for students and manageable for educators.
Tom Kropidlowski teaches social studies and religion at Seton Catholic Middle School in Menasha, Wisconsin.
Sidebar
Field Trip Programs Can Influence Choices and Behaviors
Health experts estimate that nine million U.S. children older than age six are obese, which puts nearly one in five American kids at risk for diabetes, heart disease and a host of other health problems. This issue is not just impacting families but also educators and administrators, as schools across the country are taking up the challenge to remove soft drinks and candy machines from our nation’s schools. And, teachers are increasingly becoming the first line of offense in educating students about health and nutrition for life.
Teachers have a unique ally to ensure these important life lessons are taught and reinforced with students in a hands-on, interactive way--health and nutrition field trips. Students as young as preschool-age are learning about the Food Pyramid, how to make healthy choices, and the benefits of eating smart and exercising.
Teachers like Kristi Beckett of Holly Springs, North Carolina, say supplementing classroom materials with experience-based field trips makes a huge impact. She took a class of first graders on a field trip to a local supermarket, and immediately noticed a difference in their behavior towards food.
“My students are bringing healthier snacks,” said Beckett. “They are more aware of what they eat, and they bring water more often as a drink (rather than juice).”
Elizabeth McGaha of High Point, North Carolina, took her pre-K class on a similar trip.
“My students are now aware that they like snacks other than sweets,” she said. “They are also more aware of healthy choices for meals and of sugar content in things other than the obvious candy and cookies.”
In September 2005, Field Trip Factory, www.fieldtripfactory.com, kicked off a behavioral study with educators who have signed up for their nutrition education field trips to understand their impact on students. Teachers were asked to monitor their students’ behavior as it relates to healthy living and nutrition before the trip, then to fill out a survey two weeks later to discuss how the students’ behavior had changed.
Among the initial findings: 75 percent of the kids who have gone on nutrition-based field trips choose milk more often; 69 percent drink water more often; 65 percent have started bringing healthier snacks to school; 61 percent choose healthier cafeteria lunches; and 59 percent bring healthier bag lunches to school.
“Numerous studies have shown that the most effective way to influence decisions, particularly in young children, is through example,” said Susan Singer, president of Field Trip Factory. “If they’re not learning how to eat right and follow a healthy lifestyle at home, they need to learn it somewhere. Why not at their local grocery store, the place they will likely one day shop for food themselves?”
