It’s All About the Kids

Lately we’ve been seeing all over the place about how teachers work hard for little pay. Well I have another example of this for you...

This past week we took 85 fifth graders on an overnight field trip to Camp Schmidt. Now this is a field trip sponsored by the county to an environmental center so it is absolutely free for the students which is amazing!

Side note... I taught in Virginia for 3 years before moving to Maryland. When I first started working with 5th grade in another county I heard about these overnight field trips that I’m assuming all counties in Maryland take. At first the teacher in me was like wait, we take students on a field trip overnight? We have to make them go to bed and then we ourselves have to try and sleep? And we have to make sure we get all of these kids back in one piece after 30 hours?! Clearly I had never had an experience with this growing up or in my 3 years teaching.

But I digress. This was my 4th experience and honestly if I ever stop teaching 5th grade I would absolutely miss doing it.

Back to proving how dedicated teachers can be. All 5 fifth grade teachers at my school attended the trip. We also had 2 other teachers volunteer to chaperone as well. Let me first start off by mentioning that our contract hours are 7:15am to 2:45pm. Which means that during this field trip any time after 2:45pm on the first day and before 7:15am the second day is “volunteer” time. We aren’t getting paid for that time.

Here’s the thing. This field trip isn’t mandatory. The fifth grade teachers could say that they don’t want to chaperone it and our school just wouldn’t go. But how would you feel telling 85+ fifth graders that they don’t get to have this amazing experience?? I know I wouldn’t want to be that person.

This field trip isn’t just fun for the kids, it’s educational. They have experience with all content areas and get the chance to participate in team building activities, as well as, a confidence course with a zip line. 

I hear kids talking about this trip when they are in 3rd and 4th grade. So not going on this trip isn’t even an option for me and my team.

While this is just a small moment in a school year, it is just another example of how much teachers are dedicated to their job. We don’t care that we are volunteering our time, it’s all about the kids and that’s all that matters. Let’s be honest, no one gets into teaching for the money.