canyonwalker (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
canyonwalker) wrote2024-02-21 04:15 pm
canyonwalker) wrote2024-02-21 04:15 pm
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Field Trip Fails - The Empty Firehouse
Recently I saw a thread online about school field trip fails. On the list are failures of planning, organizers not appreciating what students actually want, crises created by student misbehavior, and even just a few plain-old accidents. That reminded me of a field trip I found particularly disappointing.
When I was in second grade, my class visited the local fire station. Fire stations are pretty cool, right? There are those big trucks to look at (they're extra big when you're little second graders!), all the interesting gear firemen have, and of course, the firemen (and firewomen— though there weren't any back then) themselves. Except when we rolled up to the firehouse in our school buses the trucks and teams had just rolled out to respond to an emergency call. The station was empty.
I remember the several dozen of us 2nd graders wandering around the empty station. The garage built for fire trucks sure seemed huge without the fire trucks in them. And all the fancy gear? Well, most of that was gone, too. There was, like, one pair of boots left over. Hey, kids, look! A pair of boots!
Maybe saddest of all was that we didn't even try waiting to see if we could tour the station after the crew returned. The teachers packed us back up into the buses to return to school after a few minutes of aimless wandering. Maybe they only booked an hour for the trip including the travel time.
Moral of the story: Don't plan a field trip to the fire station when there's also a fire scheduled!
When I was in second grade, my class visited the local fire station. Fire stations are pretty cool, right? There are those big trucks to look at (they're extra big when you're little second graders!), all the interesting gear firemen have, and of course, the firemen (and firewomen— though there weren't any back then) themselves. Except when we rolled up to the firehouse in our school buses the trucks and teams had just rolled out to respond to an emergency call. The station was empty.
I remember the several dozen of us 2nd graders wandering around the empty station. The garage built for fire trucks sure seemed huge without the fire trucks in them. And all the fancy gear? Well, most of that was gone, too. There was, like, one pair of boots left over. Hey, kids, look! A pair of boots!
Maybe saddest of all was that we didn't even try waiting to see if we could tour the station after the crew returned. The teachers packed us back up into the buses to return to school after a few minutes of aimless wandering. Maybe they only booked an hour for the trip including the travel time.
Moral of the story: Don't plan a field trip to the fire station when there's also a fire scheduled!