The other day , Steve Shadows and Light from mentioned a field trip he took students on and the final comment was at least he didn't lose any!
Well, over my 37 years of teaching I probably went on a couple hundred field trips with students. Field trips were on the stressful side for teachers but they could be excellent learning situations.
However, unlike Steve, I did lose two students. Both losses were about the same time.
One time the local hospital had something they thought kids should see and invited us for a short visit. It had some relation to out health program. We had seven classes to take and it was a short tight time schedule. The kids had to go down, tour and be back in one period. Did I say it was a tight schedule.
Well on one of the trips Rob was missing when the bus was loaded and we were ready to go back. I left without Rob as I would be back in 20 minutes. When I got back to the school Rob's Mom had already phoned the school with apologies. Rob had an aunt who worked in the hospital and he had popped in to see her. Once Rob found out he'd been left, he phoned his Mom to tell her he was in trouble. All was rectified and at Rob's expense there was a lot of ribbing.
The second loss had the potential to be much more serious. We took 36 kids on a back pact trip to the Rocky Mountains. We parked the bus at a trail head that gave us two hikes. First we went right from the bus to a beautiful little mountain lake about two km away. We had lunch and then went back, past the parked bus and to another small mountain lake about 2 km away from the bus.
On the way back a no-no happened. David asked a volunteer supervisor if he could walk ahead to the bus. The volunteer said sure. David took off like a rocket. David went by the bus that was behind trees and walked to the first lake we had visited. We loaded the bus and counted. One student was missing and a check of the list told us David was missing. The volunteer was sharp enough to tell us what had happened. We put two and two together and hoped that David had missed the bus and gone back to the first lake. Two of us were runners so we ran towards the first lake we visited. Yes , we soon found David on his way back.
Now in David's case this could have been very serious as we were in wilderness country and if he'd gone off the trail it would have been very serious.
So I lost two students. Everybody was safe and we learned from the experience.
How frightening those experiences must have been! Thank goodness it worked out okay both times. When my sons were young I went on field trips as a volunteer/room mother and I remember well how those kids could scatter if you did not keep a close watch!
ReplyDeleteI found that if we were in a strange place they kept close to you and these were middle school kids.
DeleteThe second incident would have had me sweating with concern!
ReplyDeleteYes, there were very grave risks in the second incident.
DeleteI can only imagine the panic and terror of losing another persons child!
ReplyDeleteMy daughter almost got left behind one time when her friend took way too long in the bathroom despite knowing the bus was on a tight schedule
Being responsible for other people's kids was always in the back of my mind.
DeleteThe second incident sounds scary. Thank goodness in both cases everything turned out fine.
ReplyDeleteWe took the kids in the Rockies many times and that was the only time somebody wandered away.
DeleteI can't imagine how terrifying that must have been, particularly in the second case. When I chaperone, I am always counting and re-counting the kids to make sure everyone is still in my group! I think if I actually lost one, no matter how briefly, I might be tempted to stop chaperoning altogether. (Not being a teacher, but rather a librarian, I have that option!)
ReplyDeleteThe risks outweigh the value of what the kids could learn.
DeleteGood reasons for "Stay with the group" and "Just say no!".
ReplyDeleteTo do field trips a lot of prep work has to be done. Believe it or not , Middle School kids will stay close to you when they are in a strange place.
DeleteThat was always one of my fears.
ReplyDeleteWe had a large group go to Dows Lake, with a kid the teacher said shouldn't go. Principal overruled her. The volunteer quit during the field trip. The kid drowned.
It was our school board and it was awful.
Yes, I remember that one. Disagreements tend to be the cause of incidents. Taking non members on a field trip is another no no.
DeleteWhen you think about it, it's a wonder more kids don't get lost on school trips. Well done on only two incidents in all your teaching years, Red!
ReplyDeleteMiddle School kids will stay in a group if they're in a strange place. Little guys will just plain go the wrong way.
DeleteI don't recall anything like that happening on field trips when I was in school.
ReplyDeleteWell, 99% of the time there are no incidents.
DeleteThe second incident sounds very scary.
ReplyDeleteYes, there was the trail and if you got off that it was wilderness.
DeleteNever lost one but waited for a few too long.
ReplyDeleteYes, had to wait sometimes when an odd kid was super fatigued.
DeleteI don't remember anybody getting lost or separated from us in school, but I've gone on a few trips with the Senior Center here and we've waited hours for lost passengers. :-)
ReplyDeleteYes, I can see seniors getting lost.
DeleteGlad it all turned out okay:)
ReplyDeleteI can think of several kids I would have liked to lose in the Canadian wilderness and I would have even made signposts for the grizzlies.
ReplyDeleteHi Red, I love these "teacher" stories. You are so right about the field trips being good learning opportunities but a lot of work for the teachers. My most memorable field trip was one when I was the Senior Class Advisor and we took the whole class on 3 or 4 busses over to near Ellensburg, WA. There was a big ranch there that specialized in celebrations and the kids loved having a big barbeque and dancing. Well, this was a big deal to celebrate the end of their senior year, and not too much educational value but the kids and teachers enjoyed it. :-)
ReplyDeletethank God that you found the student on right time
ReplyDeletewhen i was in grade 8 we went on school trip little less than 100 people including 27 teachers and 10 other staff members to look after the kids and buses
our bus while running upwards on hilly road suddenly broke the road side protection wall and front two wheels were in the air in short it was miracle that we did not fall in hundreds of feets from hanging bus but as result i could not send any my kid to school trip i am still under the trauma of that terrible accident
That was always a fear for me so I always had one parent chaperone for each 3 students on field trips. One of the teachers in our grade level did leave behind a parent and several students though. Oops!
ReplyDelete