Who else can’t afford field trips?

What if all it took for an entire grade to go on a field trip was $100?!

There’s lots of challenges with field trips:

• Does the field trip fit the curriculum? 
• Can I get enough volunteers to chaperone the trip? 
• Does the field trip justify the missed instructional time? 

Even if you have good answers, one question stops more field trip from happening than any other: can you afford it?  For Title 1 schools, the answer is often no. 

And what happens if you don’t take your students on the field trip?  They miss out. 

• They miss the unique learning opportunities provided by a field trip (one trip I chaperoned I learned Jell-O is made, in part, from pigs!). 
• They miss out on the bus ride and singing “Old Town Road” 90 times in a row.
• They miss out on matching T-shirts and napping in the bus on the way home.

What if they didn’t have to miss out?  Below is an email I got the other day:
Wanted to bounce something off you--we are planning a field trip for 2nd graders. The options are pretty slim for an enriching experience for these kids that gets them out and moving around, and I suggested a trip we used to do at a different school. We took the kids to (a) farm (an hour away). We want to ask PTA to see what they can pitch in, but we were wondering if some financial help from (the church partners) might be a possibility? The cost is a few dollars over $300--and I know it's a lot. But, we'd thought we'd ask what you think.
The email was sent to my church, the other church who partners with our school, and the PTA president. If the three groups evenly divide this request, it’s about $100 a piece.  A $100 to send an entire 2nd grade class on a field trip these teachers believe is worth the additional work, time and energy to provide their kiddos with a unique experience.

$100!

I can’t think of better uses for a $100 than helping students experience a field trip many wouldn’t be able to take on their own.

If the only thing keeping you from taking your students to the museum, the farm, the symphony, the film or the play is money, you need to ask.
Ask your school.  Ask a small business owner.  Ask a church.  There are businesses and churches looking for just this kind of opportunity to help you and your school.

• These second graders get to take the trip because their teachers asked.
• One church paid for an entire school to attend an amusement park at the start of school. 
• A different church paid for a school’s 5th graders to take a 4 hour field trip.

I created the 50 Ways Churches Help Schools Cheatsheet to help more students go on field trips without costing schools more money.  The cheatsheet reveals how churches help schools with things like field trips by giving money and providing chaperones AND has 49 other ways a church or business can help you. 
Your classroom. 
Your school. 
Your students.

Click to download your FREE cheatsheet.    

Once you’ve got the cheatsheet, let me know your thoughts. 

What ideas are already happening in your school? 
What ideas do you want to see happen in your school or classroom? 
What ideas would you add to this list?