Field trips to Cooperstown’s Farmers Museum, Boston sites inspire students

During the school year, students have several opportunities to participate in field trips that give them valuable information to put into context what they learn in the classroom, and reward positive behavior.

On October 2nd, twenty-four students and history faculty traveled by bus to the Farmer’s Museum in Cooperstown, NY for a day-long field trip. Here, museum staff demonstrated how a mid-19th century farming community was laid out, operated businesses essential to an agricultural community including authentic blacksmith and print shops, and proved that modern day cooking equipment such as microwave ovens weren’t necessary to prepare nutritious foods and meals in the 19th century. Earlier in the year, five advanced placement students traveled to Boston to actually walk the Freedom Trail, tour the North Church, board the USS Constitution, see where Paul Revere lived.

The principles and methods learned on these trips provide students with a multitude of concepts and ideas they can apply to their studies in science, math, language arts, and american and world history.

“Trips give kids a visual and practical look at what they’ve already read and studied making it much more real for them,” said History Teacher Jerald Hensler. In terms of the therapeutic treatment environment that each youth at LaSalle experiences, Hensler says that field trips of this caliber give students the opportunities to expand their horizons beyond what they learn in the classroom, encounter new information, and do things that students in public school settings do.

All field trips are chaperoned and are considered to be essential to the educational program at LaSalle School. To learn more about the Farmers Market field trip, click here to See the video.