Student field trip to Washington D.C draws discussion at Eastern board meeting

To respond to the board members concerns regarding more students attending the trip, it sounds like some/most of the students that were not allowed to attend, need to either get their grades in check and/or stop being a discipline problem.

Maybe it's time that those students are held accountable for their own actions. The trip is a privilege, not a right. Do we really need to make exceptions to send those on an out of state trip who don't even care enough to get decent grades or more importantly those who have discipline issues?!

Now, the ones who cannot afford to go, but deserve to...by all means let's come up with a solution, but for the others I have little sympathy.

My son went on this trip and is still talking about it years later.

Our money was extremely tight and the Eastern Staff worked with us to help with the cost. My son worked concession stands, I worked concession stands, we sold candy bars ect ect. There were ample ways to help defer this cost. We did it!

I hope they continue this in the future.

I do feel sorry for those kids. Learning is measured in many ways and grades are an imperfect system. In fact, perhaps the kids who have the greatest difficulty with seat work might thrive with a hands-on fieldtrip.

As for disciplinary problems, sometimes those are a mask for home issues that are not the fault of the student.

I guess what I'm saying is that it's a shame to penalize some of those square peg kids who would benefit from a trip like this.

I believe the DC trip is a wonderful opportunity for our area youth. However, I do feel that the cost is a very MAJOR concern for a lot of these families, and not just the ones on free or reduced lunches. Personally when my child was an 8th grade student we qualified for free/reduced but did not use (or abuse) it, because we felt there were other families that needed the help more. At 8th grade age, students don't need to be worried or aware of family money problems, they have enough worries just trying to keep grades up and such. I just hope everyone is given equal opportunity to participate in this very educational experience.

My thought about the grade part maybe some do care and want to attend but can't seem to get the grade just because someone is slow one should not treat them as if they don't care or are not trying. In my opinion the only ones who should not have a choice are the ones always spending their time in the office.

blfdhilltop,Mr.Goodwin is one of the best teachers ever at Eastern.The ones who do not get to go because of grades are the ones who do not try and don't care.He has never not let someone go because there grades are a little low from being slower in learning.Mr.Goodwin always does anything and everything he can to help kids with anything it might be.I learned a lot from him and am very thankful for all the help he gave me when he didn't have to.

As a parent of 2 previous 8th graders, the DC trip has been a wonderful and educational experience for both of my children. I know first hand the time and efforts Mr. Goodwin, Mrs. Mitchell and others put into organizing fundraisers to help all students afford this trip. Donations were collected along the way by these wonderful teachers that feel this is a valuable educational trip to be shared by all.

However, it is stated early in the year to all parents and students, that good behavior and effort on grades is important. I want to mention that extra credit is offered numerous times by many teachers to enable students to go, you can't force students to do extra when they will not do work in the first place. I, as a parent, attended a meeting in which good behavior was stressed in order to go. Attending this trip is not a right, it is a priviledge. Going on an educational trip such as this, we parents put our children in the hands of teachers/chaperones overnight and expect our children to behave many, many miles from home. Shouldn't they first behave at school? Just a simple thought!

Good luck at continuing this trip! Well worth it. My son loved it, he will be a junior this year!

I think the students who routinely have disciplinary problems would hurt the experience for the rest of the kids. If the students cannot handle themselves at school, they cannot be guaranteed to behave well while they are on a trip.

But for the one's who do get to go I know its a very beneficial trip, my sister went a couple years ago. I just wish they would have had this trip organized when I was in 8th grade...Mr Goodwin just took us roller skating and bowling on Saturday :( :(

Hi,

I went to DC on my senior trip in 87. Admittedly, it was in a different state, but a much smaller class (graduated with a large class of 36 students). We raised money from 7th grade through to march of our senior year from bake sales held in the school during school hours and during school performances. Like Linton, we sold things door to door. We also had class dues ($3). We raised enough funds not only to go to DC for 10 days, but we stopped to visit Bull Run, to see where that famous civil war battle was won. Each student took $100 traveler's checks for food and sundries to be bought at the Old Post Office Mall in DC. Two teachers served as chaparones. One teacher had taken sebbatical to work for Sen. Amory Houghton and so we got to see parts of the White House, Pentagon, and Senate that are normally offlimits to students. We went to all the monuments, The Library of Congress (which is amazing, btw), Arlington Cemetary,visited the homes of Jefferson and Washington, visited the Vietnam Wall, and go to a dinner theater. It really gave us a sense of history, made it real and meaningful. To see the places where our forefathers died for what they believed in, see where the Declaration of Independance was signed, to know what sacrifices were made for an ideal.

My opinion is that 8th grade is really too young to appreciate the meaning of such a trip. Youngsters today are immature for their age, and only see that they're getting to do something fun. Most of them will not get the concept that's trying to be conveyed. I feel it really should be a senior trip, something they can base a Thesis paper on, thereby forcing the students to look at it as a learning experience. It would also give them more time to come up with the money for the trip. All students should go. You never know the impact it can have on the wayward ones. I was a C student with an IQ of 186 who just didn't take advantage of the opportunity to learn. But I did appreciate the trip with all sincerity. I look back on it 20+ years later and am so grateful that I got to go. I remember so much, even that the Cherry Trees were in bloom, and that it rained much of the time we were there. Mostly I remember the educational opportunities, of which there were many. To stand in front of a giant Mr. Lincoln and think about his contributions, his soul-searching decision making, what kind of man he was to see that he'd have to go to war with his own people in order to avoid secession. That's an amazing moment.

Thanks for your time,

Queenie

It's common knowledge at eastern Schools that if your wallet is not full, if you don't wear the best clothes, shoes or have a nice home and car or know the right people that you are a outcast right from the start and that continues through high school. I truly belive without a doubt they know who they want to go on this trip before it is planned and don't look back for those who don't get to go. They do the same in sports only the kids who have money get to play or get the starting positions, the same kids get all the awards and honor, they kinda forget about the kids whose families struggle everyday, the sad thing is if you look at poles and surveys the kids that are outcast or poor work harder then the ones with money because they have strive to have something. The kids who families have money don't keep the strive because they are use to having things handed to them and expect to get what ever they want, and surveys show they are the ones after high school and college that don't succeed in life. I'm sure its the same way any where you go and no matter how sad it is its just life, it really don't matter what people say or think they do it there way and really don't care who they hurt or let down, they say its done right and fare but if you ever have had a student in this school you know better and how they truly treat people of lower standards and how they really run there school. I just hope and pray that one day things will be better. Good Luck on the trip I'm sure the kids you have picked will have a blast.

I agree with sky7803 totally. I used to sub there and even though my kids go there we were not ones that had always went there and we don't have money or are in there so called groups. I do believe they know who they will take and who they don't want to take. I personally couldn't afford the trip. I think sometimes things at that school need to be re-evaluated with the changing times and to also look at the funds available and the funds we as parents can afford.I just think they send home alot of stuff throughout the year as well-they are always wanting you to pay for something and alot of us just can't afford it.I do think they know who they will help and to heck with the rest. I needed reduced lunches for my kids we were going through a hard time and they turned me down. But on the other hand i know for a fact there were some other kids getting free or reduced that could easily afford lunches but they got the assistance. I just think Eastern needs to start treating ALL kids fairly whether you are well known to the system or not!

The comments posted by MS, GC mom, gvolley, and giantdave are exactly right on! I have sent some of my kids on this trip already and feel the value of the trip was well worth the time and effort spent to pay for it. By that I mean that my kids WORKED to earn the money for their trip. They signed up to work concessions during ballgames, sold the candy bars, I worked during the ice cream sales, etc. There is a way for ALL students who are academically eligible to go on this trip if the PARENTS and/or KIDS are willing to WORK. Nothing in this life is free and these kids and parents need to understand that fact. As far as the sour grapes concerning "the teachers already know who is going on the trip", that is hogwash. The teachers try to reach all students in order to help them go. No kid is "blackballed" just because they may have been a discipline issue prior to their 8th grade year. Personally, I would NOT send my child on a trip out of state if EVERY student were allowed to go regardless of whether or not they could behave in school. I agree with the comment posted earlier that states if they can't behave in school, what makes anyone think they will behave while they are there. There are too many students going on this trip for the chaperons to have to be constantly worried about behavior issues arising. Do not take the opportunity away from kids who want and deserve to go due to the fact that some families are either too lazy to work for their trip or the kids may present a hazard to themselves or others while on the trip. It is an opportunity - not a right.

Everyday I look around and I see people who want something for nothing, and this is slowly becoming the American way. If you do not have the money for your child to go on this trip, they can work and pay their way, but if they do not have this "work habbit" from the home, they probably won't do it, so little Johnny can stay home and get used to it, he will probably make a carreer living off the taxpayers anyway. If they do not put forth the effort to keep thier grades up, work hard at practice, and your little Johnny looks like a sheep dog, NO I do not want him representing a school that many are proud of. So you take this weak defense of a group thing or being on the in??? Something for nothing?? The American way is supposed to be if you want something- EARN IT!!!!! Obama isn't running my child's school, yet anyway.

186? Seriously, Queenie, are you a genius? 140 and above is usually considered genius.