Flying Solo
The pros and cons of overnight field trips.
Field trips give, students the opportunity to be immersed in new learning and real-world experiences. This takes learning to a new level, where now students are connecting what they learn in with the experiences outside of school and gain new skills.
Recently, I attended the NSPA Journalism Convention in St. Louis. We got to talk to mentors from different companies and schools that taught us ways to connect educational sessions we were in and apply those in the classroom and helped us develop to leadership, design and editing skills. Schools need to implement this into more classes, field trips will be a beneficial way for students to learn in a new way.
“We learned so many tips and tricks in St. Louis that will prepare me for college and are useful for my other classes as well,” junior KLHS member Candance Brier said.
This trip was my first school trip, which was a new experience I had not done before. There was much planning that went into this like how to pay for it, how this would work into my schedule and also just my overall safety.
Overnight field trips are a different way of learning valuable lessons which are more interactive than sitting in a classroom. They are a useful tool to encourage students to learn and get them engaged in a topic they could later find more interest in.
According to Research.com, “A student survey showed that 53.78% of students strongly agree that field trips have helped to increase their knowledge base.”
Field trips do have challenges with a students safety, the financial aspects and the availability. Overnight field trips especially, are not plausible for some students given their financial situations. Going on an overnight trip is also scary for students and their parents and their is many opportunities to be put in danger.
According to Seattle Times, “School districts have made a number of changes to their field-trip policies to try to ensure student safety while also offering the educational benefits of those trips.”
By Making field trips more accessible to everyone will give students the opportunity to engage in their learning and gain real world experience. Inventing more effort from school districts, teachers, student and parents, students will majorly benefit from these trips.