The School Zone

National Teacher Survey Reveals Value of Field Trips

(ARA) - Budget cuts, test scores and extra curricular belt tightening are just a few of the pressures on teachers this fall. This combination can add up to unhappy students who aren’t engaged and learning -- inside or outside of the classroom.

Teachers now more than ever are looking for new solutions. The fundamentals are important but when they’re reinforced in real-life settings, kids get excited about learning and lessons are remembered. Ninety-five percent of teachers surveyed say field trips are very important to them and 90 percent say field trips help influence kids’ behavior.

“It goes as far back as Confucius,” says Susan Singer, president of Field Trip Factory, a national organization dedicated to creating educational field trips in the community. “Confucius said, ‘Tell me and I will forget, show me and I may remember, involve me and I will understand.’

“That’s why we’re here,” Singer continues. “We strive to work with the community to create free, educational, experience-based learning opportunities that reinforce classroom lessons. We’ve seen it time and again. Kids learn in hands-on settings and they get excited about it.”

Local companies have stepped up to the plate and, with Field Trip Factory’s help, created lessons in schools’ backyards. Kids across the country get to go to a grocery store for an hour or two to learn about nutrition . They learn about auto safety at a car dealership, fiscal responsibility at a bank, animal responsibility at a pet supply store, and fitness and sports safety at a sporting goods store. All of the Field Trip Factory excursions include curriculum that meets National Learning Standards, a fact that teachers appreciate.

“It’s invaluable,” says Elizabeth Finnegan, who works for the New Jersey public school system. “We’re constantly looking for new ways to help our students learn and these kinds of trips are a perfect fit. The kids love them, they’re free for us and it’s easy to get away for an hour on a mini-trip.”

For more information about Field Trip Factory trips in your community, contact them at (800) 987-6409 or online at www.fieldtripfactory.com.

Courtesy of ARA Content

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