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10/15/2007, 11:28 am
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Danielle Gingerich, 1-866-362-2167 Ext. 13860 , dgingerich@heraldargus.com




Strapped for cash and time, many schools turn to ‘in-house’ field trips

LA PORTE -- Field trips may have dwindled at some of La Porte County’s schools, but that doesn’t stop educators from bringing hands-on learning to the students.

Both Michigan City and La Porte schools were forced to limit outside field trips in recent years because of budget constraints.

But they continue to include hands-on learning by bringing in-house field trips to the schools.

Patty Steele, coordinator of instructional programs and assessment for La Porte Community School Corp., said in-house field trips were added to the schools because of a budget crunch that began a couple of years ago.

“The decision to discontinue field trips was a budget issue,” she said.

Michigan City schools are experiencing a similar situation because of transportation issues, said Jan Radford, director of K-12 curriculum for Michigan City Area Schools.

Because of the timing with the bus routes for each school, Radford said, there isn’t enough time and transportation for field trips.

“There literally isn’t time,” she said. “In order for students to have experiences that we think are important, we bring the field trip to them.”

La Porte’s Crichfield Elementary School held an in-house field trip Oct. 5 with the help of the Center Township Volunteer Fire Department. In honor of Fire Prevention Week, the firefighters visited the school to teach fire safety and show students their equipment.

Late last month, Purdue North Central’s farm laboratory brought the pumpkin patch to Eastport Early Learning Center in Michigan City. The preschoolers and their families chose free pumpkins. The in-house field trip marked the second year in a row the school participated in the pumpkin hunt Sept. 28.

Although students did not visit the pumpkin patch, the lessons still came across, Eastport Family Resource Center Coordinator Micki Webb said in a press release.

“The pumpkins are a great hands-on learning experience for the kids,” she said. “Our teachers are using them to teach concepts such as color, size, the seasons and the growth cycle of vegetables.”

Trips outside of the school walls still take place but are limited, and must be approved by the school corporation prior to the trip.

La Porte schools travel to a La Porte County Symphony Orchestra concert each year, as well as the La Porte Service League annual play and to the armory. Several out-of-school field trips are offered in the summer school sessions in Michigan City because many of the buses are freed up.

“We’re supporting some local things,” Steele said. “We’re not doing any distance.”