Field Trip of Experiences

by: Lori Halbison

The entire experience of a field trip is exciting. The students anxiously count down the days, ask lots of questions and of course are hoping their parent might be the one who will get to come along for the exciting day. If there is a picnic lunch in the park afterwards, the ultimate question is "what should I pack in my sack lunch?"

For some parents it is the first time they have allowed their most precious possession to ride with someone else. It is a scary thought to allow your child to go off for the day with a large group to some place they have never been before. We always try to make our families at Bios feel comfortable and allow the time for families to get to know one another and adapt to the situations presented at the school.

Many children do not have the privilege of attending live theatre. Each year our school takes advantage of this wonderful opportunity. After all, this may be the only live theatre experience that these young people may ever experience. Each year I try to figure out who likes it more, children or adults. I try to satisfy my curiosity by observing the faces in the audience and asking my own students and chaperones what they thought.

The Tempe Center for the Arts creates theatre experiences that educate, challenge, entertain, and inspire young people. By presenting significant themes that affect young people's lives in our community, they seek to foster dialogue and discussion.

Upon entering the theatre we walked into this large open common area with tall windows to see breathtaking views of Tempe Town Lake and the Papago Mountains. The high ceilings and art decor make everyone slow down to look in awe. As we single file in, quietly to our seats, we are gently reminded as to where the restrooms are located. The majority of hands go up then. What child does not like to go explore the bathrooms in a really cool new building? Who knows what might be in there too. Quickly, a few of us left to check it out and returned to watch the performance.

The performance lasted about an hour with the actors involving the students at first by a chase around the theatre. One of the actors was searching for the bells that were making noise and the other four were part of the silly prank of hiding them. The children in the audience could not wait to be the one to hold the bells and shake them. Now the actors have their full attention. The hour flew by. Watching the students laugh wholeheartedly, standing up in front of their seats out of excitement of what was going on, and even clapping at various fun parts because they were so entertained, are captured moments to smile about again and again.

After the performance the actors stay on stage and take questions from the students. Questions such as how did you make the smoke, or where do you change your costumes, or how did you make the scenery change so quickly. My favorite question is "how long did it take you to memorize all the words?"

When it was time to return to school I observed once again, and with some minimal questioning, that the adults and students had an eventful day. We enjoyed an important day of new adventure, experiences, and learning outside of the classroom.

As a teacher I can always count on going to their website and following up with writing projects and more fun activities for my students. The theatrical characters care about what we think so letting them know is always a priority for them. We have not had the time in class to follow up yet but I do have the students mimicking the actors and talking about how much fun the field trip was for them. The journey may have been short but it will be an adventure to remember.