UPDATE! Is DD's teacher nuts? Field trip to NYC?!

[scanne]

I teach 8th grade Musical Theater and I took my group to WDW in February of 2004. It was SUCH an enormous undertaking! We took a bus from NJ to WDW. Drove straight through.

I won't be doing it again.

I am, however, taking my 8th graders this year to NYC to see Beauty and the Beast on Broadway. They will also be participating in a theater workshop and having lunch at Planet Hollywood. But we are only going for the day.

Although my Disney trip was a great success, it was a bit much for middle schoolers.

JMHO.

 

[DCLuvinit]

I really am sorry for your daughter's sake that they announced this without better planning. But that itinerary is just NUTS! Right from the get-go...land at 12:00 start touring at 1:15....

 

[golfgal]

That is just WAY over the top for some little kids. My kids would sleep through most of that too. One town we are looking at relocating to has an band trip for the high school kids every 3 years. They are going to CHINA for 10 days for less then your few days in NYC.

 

[disneymom3]

Oh My! I wish I had seen this before the update as I would have felt I had someone to commisserate with! DD is in a community girls choir and she came home from camp this summer saying "Guess what, in April we are going to NEW YORK and then in the summer we are going to ICELAND." (Yeah, right, over my dead body.) Now, turns out the Iceland thing is just for high schoolers, but yes, they want to take this choir to NY and the girls range in age from 3rd through 8th grade. DD is 9. At choir, they talk about this like it is going to happen, no doubt about it. It is driving me nuts. I have told DD that we will have to look at costs and then have to consider if she and I would both be able to go because she is NOT going with the choir director who is the most unorganized person I have ever met. I am sure she would lose my child in NY. Then they finally had a parent meeting about this, and acted surprised that all the parents might want to come. Plus, many of the things they are doing the parents wouldn't be able to go. How weird is that? You stay here at the hotel while we tour your kid around NY. Don't think so.

Don't you wonder what is with these people that think this would be a good idea???

 

[akhenaten]

That was an itinery for 8-10 year olds??? The 3 hour walking tour alone sounds nuts!! And if this was for the drama club....why fly all that way and only see one show?? Why see little italy...a tour of Radio City Music Hall or Lincoln Center seems more appropriate.....

not well planned from top to bottom...its too bad the kids will always remember the trip they did not get to take...

I still remember the overnight trip to the Amish Country that our school board would not approve ..and that was about 30 years ago

 

[ballroombelle]

When I first read the thread title I was all set to type up an upbeat defense-then I actually read your post and update!

WOWEEEE!

I think the teacher was deluded. Maybe she wanted to take a trip to NY and have her way paid? Really, what WAS she smoking?

 

[simba928]

That seems like a bit much for 3rd-5th graders. Actually, it is a lot much for them. My high school band is going to WDW (it is exactly 1000 miles from my front door to the Contemporary) from Feb. 17-23. We are going to Cocoa Beach for an afternoon (on our way down to Disney), taking a bus (actually 4 to 5 buses), and all meals are included (with the exception of when we stop to eat on the bus ride down and back). It costs 600$. But, we do a LOT of fundraising (and just about anybody that is in band knows that fundraising is done A LOT). Of course we are performing, so I'm sure we got a discount on the park tickets.

 

[hydster]

No way would my kid be making a trip at that age. The schedule is insane and the cost is ridiculous. Granted it's been a few years but when I graduated from high school my drill team was invited to Japan for 17 days for a worldwide competition and it cost my parents 300 dollars for the whole 17 days. Granted the Japanese Govt and a few corporate sponsors pitched in but my parents had a hissy fit over 300. My mom would have thrown up to hear 800 for a few days in NYC.

 

[ashjohnson80]

I went on a field trip to NYC when I was 14, it was great.

 

[laurie31]

I went on a field trip to NYC when I was 14, it was great.

If dd were 14 instead of 9, I would have fewer concerns. A 14 year old might survive that itinerary and could earn his/her own money to go.



The very latest development is that they want to try to go next year. They will be looking for a DIFFERENT company and yes Christine, this was through Travel Adventures! I really think they must be geared for high school kids. They showed a very motivating DVD with "real teachers and students" who had used the program and they were all teens. (makes sense, as it's usually teens going on this type of trip).

Anyway, they want to find a company that can do an itinerary more suited to young kids and for less money. They plan to start early in the summer planning for the next spring (March 2007), thus allowing for better fundraising, planning, etc. I'm sure DD would have an awesome time in NYC, but she'd be miserable at the pace of the tour we were offered this year and no city is worth $1000/day. Sheesh. Our whole family could go to Disney for a week for what the 48 hours in NYC was going to cost.

If we get something with a reasonable cost and a reasonable itinerary - with lots of advanced notice, so we're not blindsided by "hey, we're going 1000 miles away and taking all your money - in 3 days" - we will probably go. It's open to any family members who want to go as well, so if this new trip works out, all 4 of us will go together.

Laurie

 

[charabby]

Just sayin' again on this thread that elementary kids can and do enjoy NYC and they get plenty out of visiting there. Although the itinery and fee schedule are absurd (and who'd send their 9yo on a trip like that alone), it is not so far out there to take kids that age on a trip to NYC. Kids can and do enjoy many things other than Disney. But that's fab too.

 

[rigs32]

Did no parents raise an objection at this meeting? I want to hear details on how the teachers responded to obvious problems - itinerary, cost, and NOT telling parents first.

 

[Lil_Tink]

Sounds interesting and fun.

We had to pay 70$ for a one day field trip because we had to fly off island. We also had to pay for food. Just for a 5am-7pm field trip.

 

[luvmarypoppins]

Well here is my 2 cents from New York, from someone who lives in the NY suburbs, I acutally hate the city and cringe if my kids have a field trip there. Last time they took 2 parent/cops with them. They also are going with their church youth group dec. 3rd. They do this every year and I refuse to let our kids go, they always have l guy who is a cop with them. I just dont think the city is safe and I am glad your school board and the parents have seen the light. I am glad we will be in disney on dec. 3rd because I would have just ended up saying no to my ds again and they are teens. I guess you could call me Mrs. Overprotective. I hope your dd enjoys her new field trip.

 

[akhenaten]

Well here is my 2 cents from New York, from someone who lives in the NY suburbs, I acutally hate the city and cringe if my kids have a field trip there. Last time they took 2 parent/cops with them. They also are going with their church youth group dec. 3rd. They do this every year and I refuse to let our kids go, they always have l guy who is a cop with them. I just dont think the city is safe and I am glad your school board and the parents have seen the light. I am glad we will be in disney on dec. 3rd because I would have just ended up saying no to my ds again and they are teens. I guess you could call me Mrs. Overprotective. I hope your dd enjoys her new field trip.

WOW,, I live just outside of NY also.....I totally feel the oposite of you! NYC is a wonderful place and the cultural opportunites are fantastic!! I have lived here over 40 years and still have not scratched the surface in terms of the Museums and exhibits in the city! Not to mention the special events and the Theatre!!

My Children have gone into the city on field trips in both grade school and HS and never had a problem!!(Imax theatre, Museums, Carnigie Hall concerts, Trade shows, Broadway shows ...to name a few field trips)

There may be some bad in the city but let me tell you the bad is like a drop of water in a bucket compared to the ocean of adventure , culture and fun to be had in the city!! And if you think your kids are safer outside of the city watch the news ....bad is everywhere..but Broadway Theatre, World class museums and national monuments are not!!

OP if they get a more age appropriate itenerary and a company that is not clearly just in it for the profit...go on the trip with your child and enjoy !!!!

I NYC!!!!!!!

 

[MrsPete]

I see LOTS of problems here:

The proposed trip is not age-appropriate.
The itinerary is too fast-paced for elementary kids.
The cost is too high for elementary kids and for the length of the trip.
There's not enough lead-time for kids to do fundraisers and planning.

Our high school used to do a Washington DC trip for 9th graders (it fit with the curriculum because they took government/civics in 9th grade). It was a good trip: well-chaperoned, lots of museums, etc. I don't remember the cost, but it wasn't bad.

Every year when the kids came back, I'd ask them what they'd seen and what they'd done. It was always the same: On the bus _____ did _____. _____ tried to sneak out of his room but was caught. _____ had a big fight with ______. NONE of them EVER said anything about the wonderful destinations they'd visited (even when directly questioned about they, they didn't have much to say about them); they were too caught up in the fun of being on a trip with their 13-14 year old friends. If the 9th graders were too immature to appreciate such a trip, then certainly these elementary school kids won't appreciate NYC.

I'd be amazed if they get enough kids to make this trip happen.

 

[DebbieB]

I see LOTS of problems here:

The proposed trip is not age-appropriate.
The itinerary is too fast-paced for elementary kids.
The cost is too high for elementary kids and for the length of the trip.
There's not enough lead-time for kids to do fundraisers and planning.

I totally agree. The kids are too young for this trip. I went to NYC in high school, that was a more appropriate age. I was in NYC for work last week, everything is so fast paced there, I can't imagine being there with a group of grade school kids so far from home.