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KRISTEN MORALES
partnership with CLarke County schools to work with them to
create experiential learning opportunities for CCSD students,"
Wilder says, adding that field trips are often one of the first
"extras" that are cut when a budget shrinks.
Low Cost, High Reward
Anisa Sullivan Jimenez, director of public relations for
CCSD, says it costs $13 an hour to send a bus on a field trip,
plus another $2.25 per mile, for an entire grade. That means,
if a school wants to send a class on a field trip that's just five
miles away, it can easily cost $300 for a half-day trip with
four buses. But with funding from the UGA President's Venture
Fund, the office of the vice president of service and outreach
at UGA's Franklin College and a few other sources, the money is
there to at least begin taking kids on these field trips.
Although, Coenen points out, the program is not yet
fully funded. An event planned for this spring will not only
raise more money for the program but also raise awareness
of the costs. She says many parents and UGA staff also have
expressed interest in helping to fund the program.
For low-income students, especially, the experiences gath
ered during a field trip can multiply when later applied in the
classroom, according to Matthew Wheelock, a former teacher
who in 2005 started the nonprofit Live It Learn It. In a col
umn written for the Washington Post???and cited by Wilder???
Wheelock writes: "To bridge the experience gap, schools should
reinvigorate the much-maligned field trip. When done right, a
field trip is an inexpensive but powerful form of experiential
learning that can boost academic skills and motivate students
to excel."
David Spinkston, 24, lives in the Parkview Homes neighborhood while he
works to pay off his student loans. Spinkston does pencil drawings, along
with poetry and martial arts, and was a student at the Art Institute of
Atlanta until his tuition was too much to handle.
But ask many middle or high school students about their
impression of the UGA campus, and they are likely to know it
for its football or basketball games and game day crowds???
unless they've gone for a field trip.
Jermaine Johnson, 8, a student at Barrow Elementary
School, recently spent time at the Georgia Museum of Art.
He also took a trip to Lake Herrick with his class and recalls
studying the ecosystems of the fish and wildlife there. Eleven-
year-old Joel Rodriguez, a student at Clarke Middle School
who lives within walking distance of campus, says he's been
there to shop at the bookstore or hang out at the Tate Center.
Going with his classmates, though, would be different, he says.
"You'd be learning about something."
One aspect of the Experience UGA program that makes it
effective is its repetition, Coenen says. By going every year
and seeing something different, students graduate from high
school with a range of experiences. "There's a lot of exposure,"
she says. "The mission is twofold: We want to take advantage
of the current resources to enhance the students' education
and also get students to think about higher education. In my
mind they're equally important. I just think it's really impor
tant that students feel welcome on campus."
Evans thinks the program will benefit students who, unlike
her, don't live within walking distance of campus. "I think it
would make a difference if people know what [UGA] has to
offer," she says.
Kristen Morales
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