5th Grade Field Trip
Donation protected
The Field Trip to Nowhere
As an elementary school student, there is nothing better than the excitement of a field trip. For most adults, I would argue that these are some of the most positive, long-term memories that we have from our elementary school years and childhood. I, personally, can recall field trips such as my 6th grade field trip going to New York City for the very first time and seeing the Rockettes perform in the Christmas Show and sleeping over at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where I got to look out of a giant telescope at the stars on the roof of the museum at night. These experiences were the most rewarding and memorable parts of school for me. They also provide hands on opportunities for students, like me, to take what we learned in the textbooks at school and apply that knowledge to real life experiences.
Field trips still bring much of the same excitement today for students despite public school budget cuts, harsher constraints on what field trips teachers can plan and how scarcely students go on them-- especially for schools with high populations of students in poverty. This is where our story comes in. I am currently a 5th Grade Teacher at a Title 1 School in an affluent school district in the Washington Metropolitan Area, where 81% of the students at my school are on free or reduced lunch due to their family economic status.
Despite this alarming statistic for an affluent county in the DC region, I feel extremely fortunate to work with a group of bright, hard-working and diverse elementary school students and determined, caring colleagues who band together to advocate on behalf of our student population. We work with a population of students where the poverty gap significantly affects their experiences outside of the classroom despite teacher efforts to give similar experiences in the classroom that other students above the poverty line get.
One place where the poverty gap really affects our students is when it comes to the field trip experiences. These students cannot afford the same field trips that other schools in our area can provide to students of the same age. My colleagues and I worked very hard this year to find a field trip that would be free, engaging and relevant to our 5th grade curriculum. We found a field trip that appeared to meet these criteria—The 4th USA Science and Engineering Festival at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. (www.usasciencefestival.org). Unfortunately this did not end up being the case. Instead, our students left crying and discouraged. Let me tell you about their experience:
Our students arrived at school, April 8th, a Friday morning at 8:30 am in their class t-shirts excited and ready for the day. All field trip permission slips had been turned in many weeks prior and the buzz in the classroom was apparent based on their excited conversations related to the math, science, technology and engineering hands-on stations they would be able to see throughout the day. The anticipation was visible on each students’ face and through the tone (and volume) of their voices. Our lunches were prepared and packed from the school cafeteria (since they receive free and reduced lunch funding) and we were headed downstairs to the front of the school to get on the school buses by 9:15 am.
Every field trip from our school is covered by a combination of Title I funds and family support and the transportation for the day was covered by this combination of funds. Three school buses for 5 classes and no chaperones outside of school staff to minimize field trip costs. This allowed the field trip to be completely free for all students involved. In order to minimize field trip expenses, we additionally chose to use the public school buses for transportation to and from the event. Because of this, there is a very strict time constraint for our school’s departure and arrival time during a field trip. Our timeline: leave school at 9:15 am (after regularly scheduled school day drop offs) and return to the buses to head home by 12:45 pm (to allow those buses to continue their regularly scheduled school day pick-ups by 2:00 pm). This gave us a field trip time window of three and a half hours, including travel time. We got on the bus and we were on our way to the convention center.
Due to the magnitude of this event, school buses were not permitted to drop off at the convention center, rather were expected to park at the RFK Stadium for a fee of approximately $30.00 per bus and take shuttles to the convention center for the event. We arrived at the RFK area at approximately 9:45 am and the bus was parked by 10:15 am. The teachers and students unloaded off of the buses and walked to the line for the shuttle buses by 10:20 am. After some time calculations by the teachers, we informed students that it would be a smart idea to eat lunch in line while we waited for the shuttles so that when we got to the convention center we could maximize time at the stations. Unfortunately, the transportation shuttles were extremely unorganized and we were not able to board a shuttle bus until 12:00 pm. This was a direct result of the lack of leadership and organization by the event staff to load the buses in a systematic way (first come, first served). By the time the shuttle bus got our classes to the convention center, the time was 12:30 pm. We were expected to be back out front of the convention center by 12:45 pm for the shuttle to take us back to RFK Stadium.
15 minutes, that was the total amount of time our group of students had as the experience inside the convention center. This was just enough time for them to get a glimpse of the convention floor with all of the hands-on tables they would not be participating in. We had to explain to these students that we in fact, would not be participating in any events they were so patiently waiting to experience because we had to return to the parking lot. Each students face sunk. Some started crying—discouraged and let down.
After this hard conversation with the students, our group left the convention center to get back in line for a shuttle bus to RFK where our school bus was waiting to take us back to school. We were one of the first school groups from the convention center back outside for the shuttle buses, yet we were unable to board a shuttle again due to the same lack of organization by event staff. After many attempts by the teachers speaking with transportation personnel to get back to the stadium, we did not board a shuttle bus back to RFK stadium until 1:45 pm. An hour after the time we were required to be headed to the school. This event was disorderly and a complete letdown. Additionally, for many other schools, professionalism went out the window as many school groups were cutting lines or jumping on shuttles as our group waited and our school’s teachers continued to communicate our urgency to get back to the stadium with the event staff. We did not arrive back to school until 3:10 pm. This was just enough time for our students to get on their regular school bus and go home.
As their teacher, this social injustice was heartbreaking. They did not understand that the reason we were on such a tight time schedule was because we could not afford private buses to give us a longer time window. They did not understand that because they cannot afford to pay in any money out of pocket for field trips that we are limited to free or low cost field trips that can be completely covered by funding from the school or Parent-Teacher Association (PTA). These kids have many experiences in their lives of being let down already and this experience was intended to be a positive, enriching learning experience where their economic status should NOT have created disparity. This was equally heart-wrenching for the teachers. We work very hard for these kids and these are the kids who can’t afford to miss opportunities like this. This is a social injustice to these students.
This is not okay. These students deserve the same opportunities that many of us got growing up and the same as other public school children within our school district. I am taking this opportunity to teach our students a very strong life lesson—you MUST advocate for yourself.
It was absolutely tear-jerking to see the disappointment on their faces. This is the one field trip these students get to attend during 5th Grade and they didn't even experience it. Rather, their day was spent waiting in multiple lines for shuttle buses to and from an event they did not partake in. I want my students to get one experience like other students their age regardless of the economic disparity.
I am asking you to help us fundraise to give this 5th Grade group (5 classes) a trip to the Baltimore Aquarium. The students have been studying oceans in science this year and this would be a fabulous educational experience that connects directly with our 5th grade curriculum. In order to afford this trip, we would need full funding of the entrance tickets and are asking for three chartered buses) to Baltimore, Maryland. The total cost of this trip would fall right around $6,000. We would need to complete this fundraiser by the end of May in order to provide this trip for these students during this school year. Please consider donating or spreading the word to donate to this cause to give this amazing group of students the experience we have been so fortunate to have.
Thank you for your time and consideration!
Suzie Radcliffe
As an elementary school student, there is nothing better than the excitement of a field trip. For most adults, I would argue that these are some of the most positive, long-term memories that we have from our elementary school years and childhood. I, personally, can recall field trips such as my 6th grade field trip going to New York City for the very first time and seeing the Rockettes perform in the Christmas Show and sleeping over at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where I got to look out of a giant telescope at the stars on the roof of the museum at night. These experiences were the most rewarding and memorable parts of school for me. They also provide hands on opportunities for students, like me, to take what we learned in the textbooks at school and apply that knowledge to real life experiences.
Field trips still bring much of the same excitement today for students despite public school budget cuts, harsher constraints on what field trips teachers can plan and how scarcely students go on them-- especially for schools with high populations of students in poverty. This is where our story comes in. I am currently a 5th Grade Teacher at a Title 1 School in an affluent school district in the Washington Metropolitan Area, where 81% of the students at my school are on free or reduced lunch due to their family economic status.
Despite this alarming statistic for an affluent county in the DC region, I feel extremely fortunate to work with a group of bright, hard-working and diverse elementary school students and determined, caring colleagues who band together to advocate on behalf of our student population. We work with a population of students where the poverty gap significantly affects their experiences outside of the classroom despite teacher efforts to give similar experiences in the classroom that other students above the poverty line get.
One place where the poverty gap really affects our students is when it comes to the field trip experiences. These students cannot afford the same field trips that other schools in our area can provide to students of the same age. My colleagues and I worked very hard this year to find a field trip that would be free, engaging and relevant to our 5th grade curriculum. We found a field trip that appeared to meet these criteria—The 4th USA Science and Engineering Festival at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. (www.usasciencefestival.org). Unfortunately this did not end up being the case. Instead, our students left crying and discouraged. Let me tell you about their experience:
Our students arrived at school, April 8th, a Friday morning at 8:30 am in their class t-shirts excited and ready for the day. All field trip permission slips had been turned in many weeks prior and the buzz in the classroom was apparent based on their excited conversations related to the math, science, technology and engineering hands-on stations they would be able to see throughout the day. The anticipation was visible on each students’ face and through the tone (and volume) of their voices. Our lunches were prepared and packed from the school cafeteria (since they receive free and reduced lunch funding) and we were headed downstairs to the front of the school to get on the school buses by 9:15 am.
Every field trip from our school is covered by a combination of Title I funds and family support and the transportation for the day was covered by this combination of funds. Three school buses for 5 classes and no chaperones outside of school staff to minimize field trip costs. This allowed the field trip to be completely free for all students involved. In order to minimize field trip expenses, we additionally chose to use the public school buses for transportation to and from the event. Because of this, there is a very strict time constraint for our school’s departure and arrival time during a field trip. Our timeline: leave school at 9:15 am (after regularly scheduled school day drop offs) and return to the buses to head home by 12:45 pm (to allow those buses to continue their regularly scheduled school day pick-ups by 2:00 pm). This gave us a field trip time window of three and a half hours, including travel time. We got on the bus and we were on our way to the convention center.
Due to the magnitude of this event, school buses were not permitted to drop off at the convention center, rather were expected to park at the RFK Stadium for a fee of approximately $30.00 per bus and take shuttles to the convention center for the event. We arrived at the RFK area at approximately 9:45 am and the bus was parked by 10:15 am. The teachers and students unloaded off of the buses and walked to the line for the shuttle buses by 10:20 am. After some time calculations by the teachers, we informed students that it would be a smart idea to eat lunch in line while we waited for the shuttles so that when we got to the convention center we could maximize time at the stations. Unfortunately, the transportation shuttles were extremely unorganized and we were not able to board a shuttle bus until 12:00 pm. This was a direct result of the lack of leadership and organization by the event staff to load the buses in a systematic way (first come, first served). By the time the shuttle bus got our classes to the convention center, the time was 12:30 pm. We were expected to be back out front of the convention center by 12:45 pm for the shuttle to take us back to RFK Stadium.
15 minutes, that was the total amount of time our group of students had as the experience inside the convention center. This was just enough time for them to get a glimpse of the convention floor with all of the hands-on tables they would not be participating in. We had to explain to these students that we in fact, would not be participating in any events they were so patiently waiting to experience because we had to return to the parking lot. Each students face sunk. Some started crying—discouraged and let down.
After this hard conversation with the students, our group left the convention center to get back in line for a shuttle bus to RFK where our school bus was waiting to take us back to school. We were one of the first school groups from the convention center back outside for the shuttle buses, yet we were unable to board a shuttle again due to the same lack of organization by event staff. After many attempts by the teachers speaking with transportation personnel to get back to the stadium, we did not board a shuttle bus back to RFK stadium until 1:45 pm. An hour after the time we were required to be headed to the school. This event was disorderly and a complete letdown. Additionally, for many other schools, professionalism went out the window as many school groups were cutting lines or jumping on shuttles as our group waited and our school’s teachers continued to communicate our urgency to get back to the stadium with the event staff. We did not arrive back to school until 3:10 pm. This was just enough time for our students to get on their regular school bus and go home.
As their teacher, this social injustice was heartbreaking. They did not understand that the reason we were on such a tight time schedule was because we could not afford private buses to give us a longer time window. They did not understand that because they cannot afford to pay in any money out of pocket for field trips that we are limited to free or low cost field trips that can be completely covered by funding from the school or Parent-Teacher Association (PTA). These kids have many experiences in their lives of being let down already and this experience was intended to be a positive, enriching learning experience where their economic status should NOT have created disparity. This was equally heart-wrenching for the teachers. We work very hard for these kids and these are the kids who can’t afford to miss opportunities like this. This is a social injustice to these students.
This is not okay. These students deserve the same opportunities that many of us got growing up and the same as other public school children within our school district. I am taking this opportunity to teach our students a very strong life lesson—you MUST advocate for yourself.
It was absolutely tear-jerking to see the disappointment on their faces. This is the one field trip these students get to attend during 5th Grade and they didn't even experience it. Rather, their day was spent waiting in multiple lines for shuttle buses to and from an event they did not partake in. I want my students to get one experience like other students their age regardless of the economic disparity.
I am asking you to help us fundraise to give this 5th Grade group (5 classes) a trip to the Baltimore Aquarium. The students have been studying oceans in science this year and this would be a fabulous educational experience that connects directly with our 5th grade curriculum. In order to afford this trip, we would need full funding of the entrance tickets and are asking for three chartered buses) to Baltimore, Maryland. The total cost of this trip would fall right around $6,000. We would need to complete this fundraiser by the end of May in order to provide this trip for these students during this school year. Please consider donating or spreading the word to donate to this cause to give this amazing group of students the experience we have been so fortunate to have.
Thank you for your time and consideration!
Suzie Radcliffe
Organizer
Suzie Radcliffe
Organizer
Annandale, VA
