Hosting youth field trips

Organizing in-person, formal engagements with elementary school students on college campuses: developing a detailed schedule, anticipating day-of changes, and planning for success.

(Above) Elementary school students at the University of Georgia College of Environment + Design Jackson Street Building.

PURPOSE:

The purpose of this format is to prepare and plan for hosting elementary school students for interactions and activities on college campuses. The outcome is most useful for maximizing available time and preparing a detailed timeline.

DESIGN PHASE:

(highlight in bold are the phase or phases most applicable)

Vision and goals
Site exploration
Program development
Co-design
Design evaluation
Implementation

MATERIALS NEEDED:

Computer/Laptop
Microsoft Word or other word processing application.

TIME REQUIRED:

This format can be completed synchronous to other projects and will take approximately 4-7 hours to complete (depending on the time it takes to communicate and schedule).

SUGGESTIONS:

Critically analyze the parking options for school buses, focusing on the distance and ease of access.
Always ensure that there is clear communication between the college students and elementary school regarding expectations for the interaction.
Ensure that you add 15-20 minutes buffer on either side of the TOA and TOD to allot for traffic or other unforeseen travel issues.

OVERVIEW

This format plans for an in person engagement with elementary school students at a college campus and is useful for college students and school administrators/faculty involved with the planning. The types of projects this format is most useful for involves elementary school students and interactions and activities on college campuses including design activities, educational events, school outreach, and much more. The result of the format is a well-developed schedule of events that will help maximize time and plan for unanticipated day-of-changes.

HOw-TO

There are five steps involved with this format which include:

Information Collection
Parking and Arrival Plan
Creating the Schedule
Inclement Weather and Day-of-Changes
Reviewing the Schedule and Making Changes

Steps

Information Collection: Set up the date, location, activity, time of arrival (TOA), and time of departure (TOD) with the school administrator/faculty or school's person of contact. Determine how many students and faculty will be attending the event and how they will be arriving (bus, van, etc.) (approx. 1-2 hours depending on communication).
Parking and Arrival Plan: Generally, the students will be arriving by bus, so suitable parking options or parking arrangements that are close to the campus will need to be listed, along with the addresses of the parking locations and approximate distance from the location of the activity. Questions to ask in this step: what kind of accommodations will be available for the students upon arrival (water-bottle filling station or water fountain, vending machine for snacks, restrooms, etc.)? who will be facilitating and overseeing the arrival of the students? (approx. 1-2 hours).
Creating the Schedule: Start by listing out the activity, date, location, TOA, and TOD in a Word document. Under TOA, provide the destination address, along with available parking options and addresses. Additionally, if you are able to do so, outline the available accommodations for the students upon arrival (bathrooms, water fountains, etc.). It is important to provide a 15-20 minute buffer on either side of the TOA and TOD to be prepared for any unforeseen travel issues that would delay arrival or longer than anticipated activities that would delay departure. Next, provide an outline of the day's schedule and activities, with approximate times for completing each activity, making sure to provide addresses for changing locations during the event, if applicable. Once the times and activities have been listed, end the schedule with the TOD and any other information afterwards that would be beneficial to the school administrator/faculty involved with the event, such as a map of the campus with location(s) starred. Questions to ask in this step: how much space will the activity/activities require? will I need to reserve space for the event? (approx. 2-3 hours).
Inclement Weather and Day-Of-Changes Plan: It is critical to determine if the event is rain-or-shine. If not, inclement weather can be detrimental to any event and the preparedness of all who are involved. If the event is not rain-or-shine, then a date prior to the event must be selected to determine the weather forecasting and if the event needs to be re-scheduled.
Reviewing the Schedule and Making Changes: Send the proposed activity and schedule of events to the school administrator/faculty for review and make any revisions accordingly. On the day of, know that unforeseen day-of-changes may cause you to deviate from the schedule, requiring on the spot alterations. The beauty of the schedule is that it can be used as a guide on the day of, even if changes to the schedule are necessary.

(Above) UGA team facilitating the model-making activity with TWS fifth grade class at the Jackson Street Building in Athens, Georgia.

(Above) TWS activity schedule created by the UGA team.

Case Example

Format Introduction: For Professor Katherine Melcher's senior capstone studio class Community Engagement, a UGA team was selected to facilitate the design of a school pollinator garden for The Westminster Schools (TWS) located in Atlanta, Georgia. The project also included the involvement and input of the school's fifth grade class. After having two interactions with the fifth grade class at TWS in Atlanta, the UGA team hosted a model-making activity at the UGA Jackson Street Building where the Landscape Architecture studios are located. This format was selected to use because the model-making activity involved the use of a UGA campus building, facilitation of parking, and scheduling of events. The design phases included the program development and implementation.

Format Execution: One of the members of the UGA team began preparing for the event by establishing the event's date, time, and location with the fifth grade class faculty. A set TOA and TOD was determined and the team member began compiling the information into a Word document along with the development of a detailed schedule. This detailed schedule included information regarding parking accommodations, addresses, approximate distances from the Jackson Street Building, in addition to campus and parking maps. This schedule was then sent to TWS fifth grade faculty and administrators for their input and approval.

Format Outcome: The outcomes of the format included a highly detailed activity schedule which was very helpful for both the UGA team and TWS faculty in preparing for the day's events. The format assisted the UGA team in their activity planning, especially on the day of when keeping track of time spent on the activity and being mindful of the TOD. The format was useful in having a clear, concise, and direct plan of action for the days events, providing a guide for unforeseen changes to the schedule.

Lessons Learned

The UGA team did not plan for inclement weather which was a huge lesson learned because rain occurred on the day of event so the team was unprepared for shuttling the students into the building without rain gear and umbrellas. Additionally, the UGA team did not plan for accommodations upon student arrival and had to take away from the allotted time for the activity for restroom and water breaks. Tips for making this format successful is being able to improvise and stay calm, cool, and collected when things do not follow the set schedule! At the end of the day, the focus should be on providing the elementary students a positive experience on a college campus, regardless of if the schedule was followed to a "t".

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