Wolf Ridge

Our school district has been lucky enough to send our sixth graders every year on a three day field trip to Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center (ELC). It's been a tradition going on since 1971, I guess. As a parent, if you want to be able to chaperone on these trips, you get your name in early, maybe when your child is in first or second grade. I've put in the parental due diligence, although none of it involved PTA (which makes you a shoe-in, I'm sure). All those years of showing up at the school and putting an early bug in the ear of the school district coordinator of this trip got me the hour and twenty minute school bus ride to ELC.

Whenever I'm lucky enough to get to go on a field trip, I always have a little bit of buyer's remorse. This time it showed up again. I really don't have time to leave work for three days. Do I want to stay in a dorm with 70 sixth graders?

Some field trips are really great, and some are just an opportunity to view your child in their school habitat. And since I only have boys, I love spending time with the girls. I love to watch their sillliness, their determination through tears, and their amazing humor and maturity. It's that little preview into why your women friends are so important and what they would have been like as these little girls.

Usually though the field trips end up being better than I thought they would be. There are always some kids that are a handful, but usuallly not too bad. ("Oh please, you want to take an elevator instead of going DOWN the stairs? ) I also think that as kids get older, their field trips get more interesting.

Well, once again, this field trip was much better than I thought it would be. The teachers and other parents were fun, the activities were great, and the kids surprised me-especially on the ropes course. But as a parent, this is why I go, to see a grin that only my boy could have when he's dissecting rodent bones and fur from an owl pellet (that's more like owl vomit, rather than owl feces). I'll put up with a few whiny kids to be around when this happens.