In 20 years, when I look back on my 18 years of public school education, some of my favorite memories will be from the various field trips I embarked on with my best friends. I’ll reminisce on the extravagance of Mount Vernon and getting knee-deep in the murky Chesapeake waters. I’ll remember sleeping in cramped bunk-beds and hunting for invasive plant species during Outdoor Ed in sixth grade. But how come all these field trip memories come from elementary and middle school? Why aren’t there more high school field trips?
Adding more field trips to the high school curriculum will allow for both greater application of classroom content to the real world and a more rewarding experience for students.
In my first two years of high school, I didn’t have the chance to embark on a single field trip, a stark contrast from my elementary and middle school years where field trips were commonplace. But, as a junior, I was able to embark on three field trips toward the end of the school year, all of which were impactful.
In April, ASL 2 students traveled to DC to visit Gallaudet University, the world’s first and only deaf university. Students, whose ASL education has primarily been confined to the classroom, were able to experience ASL being used in real situations among deaf and hard of hearing people for the first time.
It was a formative experience that allowed me to learn more signs, practice understanding other signers, sign to deaf people for the first time and learn more about deaf culture. The field trip was an important stepping stone in my ASL education that allowed me to apply classroom knowledge to real world situations. Without the Gallaudet field trip, I may have never been in a setting with so many deaf and hard of hearing people and I definitely wouldn’t be as comfortable and confident of a signer as I am now.
Another field trip I recently took was a Physics field trip to Six Flags, which will stay cemented in my memory for a long time. After taking four AP tests, as did many of my junior classmates, I was quite drained, so this field trip was exactly the rejuvenating and exciting experience I needed to finish the school year. Hopping on roller coasters with my best friends was one of my favorite days of junior year and I am so grateful that I was able to end this jam-packed year on a high note.
High school, four often stressful and complicated years, can be made more enjoyable and more memorable just by a few exciting field trips. Breaking out of the confines of the classroom for an adventurous day is not a waste of class time, but a different and more exciting way for teachers to teach class material and an opportunity for students to have new and fun experiences that they might not otherwise have.
