Field Trips

Field trips are an educational enrichment tool, yet in tough economic times, they might be one of the first programs cut. The Target Field Trip Grants Program was developed to help teachers fund field trips for their students. From 2007 to 2010, Target's Field Trip Grants Program awarded $9.76 million in grants, providing field trips to 1.2 million students in all 50 states. This year, the program will award 5,000 field trip grants valued at up to $700 to local educational professionals throughout the nation.

 Renfrew Institute is sponsoring two off-site birding field trips to Gettysburg National Military Park on two consecutive Saturdays, June 2 and June 9. The guided bird walks are free and open to the public. Participants should meet at 7:30 a.m. at the Virginia memorial on Confederate Avenue on Gettysburg battlefield. The excursion is expected to last until 10 a.m. Naturalist Jack Olszewski will lead the trip. Participants should bring binoculars, bird identification books and cameras, and wear comfortable shoes for walking.

Students at the Greencastle-Antrim primary and elementary school are hoping their feet won't fail them when they walk and jog to raise $50,000 in the Race for Education on Oct. 19. The Greencastle-Antrim Primary and Elementary PTO organized the event to eliminate the need for a fall and spring fundraiser this year, according to PTO Vice President Brittny Paci. In the past, the PTO has conducted product-based fundraisers, but Paci said sales have spiraled downward. “Our profits were declining.

When a field trip permission slip comes home with one of my children, I ask a few questions. I want to know where the class is going, what the students will be doing and how much these activities will cost. I'm mainly listening for clues to answer one important question: Does my child want me to go along on this trip? It's not a question to ask outright. Most kids won't tell their parents to stay home, even if the child wants a day away with just friends and a teacher. On the other hand, if a parent acts disinterested, the child might get the wrong impression - that the parent is too busy or that work is more important than taking a day off and spending time together.

Discovery Station, at 101 W. Washington St. in Hagerstown, has received a $14,000 grant from the Citigroup Foundation. The money is being used for a number of field trips from Washington County Public Schools. "Hundreds of fourth-graders from Washington County will be coming to Discovery Station in the next several weeks," Discovery Station President Marie Byers said. Byers said that about eight schools have booked field trips so far, with as many as 100 students and staff per field trip.

pepperb@herald-mail.com Tri-State area schools are using caution when sending students on field trips to the Washington, D.C., area in the wake of the recent sniper attacks. The metropolitan area - where museums, parks and history abound - is a main target of field trips for local schools. Area school superintendents are mixed on cutting trips off and keeping enrichment on. Among the 10 reported sniper shootings in suburban Washington was one Oct. 7 in which a 13-year-old boy was wounded outside Benjamin Tasker Middle School in Bowie, Md., as his aunt dropped him off at the school.

The Potomac Valley Audubon Society is now accepting applications for its "Birding 101" course for beginning birders, which will be in April. Space will be limited so those who are interested are encouraged to sign up soon. The course will be taught by leading local bird experts, including Bob Dean, Wil Hershberger and Matt Orsie. The course features evening classroom sessions and daytime field trips to teach everything from bird identification to birding techniques and resources to field etiquette.

Officials easing up on no-charge policy CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. - For the next two months, Jefferson County Schools officials will ease up on their new requirement that students be prohibited from charging their lunches. Since the new policy was started last week, there has been confusion among some students about the change, according to Superintendent of Schools R. Steven Nichols. Some students who did not have money for lunch were confused about what to do with the new policy in place, Nichols said.

Cascade auction raises more than $8,000 CASCADE - The Cascade Elementary School Parent Teacher Association recently announced its eighth annual fundraising auction, which was held March 10, raised $8,146.86. The money will be used for the association's annual budget, including field trips, student incentives, special programs, Character Counts bingo, classroom allotments and more, according to a PTA press release. The PTA thanked businesses for donations and all of the parent volunteers who helped make the classroom quilts, pillows and T-shirts and who solicited business donations.

The Rachuba Group, a family-owned-and-operated real estate development company, celebrated the grand opening of the Hager's Crossing Community Center. A reception and ribbon cutting took place May 24 at the Community Center at the corner of Bartow Drive and Hager's Crossing Drive in the new Hager's Crossing development, just off Interstate 81 and U.S. 40 behind The Centre at Hagerstown. Hagerstown Mayor Robert E. Bruchey II and Lawrence R. Rachuba, chief executive officer of the Rachuba Group, were joined by Julianna Albowicz of Sen. Barbara Mikulski's office; Mike Flicek, executive director of the Hagerstown YMCA; Dale Bannon, executive director of the United Way of Washington County; Bruce Zimmerman, Hagerstown city administrator; and Susan Murray, representing the Hagerstown-Washington County Chamber of Commerce.

Twice a month, a group of 29 minority students in grades six through 12 meets at the Hagerstown YMCA for support and encouragement to achieve education and career goals. Through interest-related cluster groups, featured speakers and field trips, the young people learn to make “wise decisions,” Deborah Phillips said. Phillips, Achiever program director for the Hagerstown YMCA, said last year, all four of the program's graduating seniors went on to college. “We track our students and keep in touch with their families,” she said.

The Potomac Valley Audubon Society is accepting applications for its 2013 "Birding 101" course for beginning birders. The course will focus on bird species found in the Eastern Panhandle area. The classroom sessions will start Thursday, April 4, and continue April 11, 18 and 25. All of these sessions will be from 7 to 9 p.m. at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Conservation Training Center north of Shepherdstown. The field trips will be at various locations around the Panhandle on Saturdays, April 6, 13, 20 and 27, from roughly 7 a.m. to noon.

No one was injured when a school bus carrying 48 children struck a car Tuesday afternoon near the intersection of Antietam Street and Summit Avenue in Hagerstown, a Washington County Public Schools official said. Randy Mills, assistant superintendent of transportation for Washington County Public Schools, said the bus was returning to Emma K. Doub Elementary School after a field trip to The Maryland Theatre in downtown Hagerstown when the accident occurred at about 2:30 p.m. “It was just like a bump,” Mills said.

Students at the Greencastle-Antrim primary and elementary school are hoping their feet won't fail them when they walk and jog to raise $50,000 in the Race for Education on Oct. 19. The Greencastle-Antrim Primary and Elementary PTO organized the event to eliminate the need for a fall and spring fundraiser this year, according to PTO Vice President Brittny Paci. In the past, the PTO has conducted product-based fundraisers, but Paci said sales have spiraled downward. “Our profits were declining.

The Potomac Valley Audubon Society is offering a new Master Birder program. The program is intended for experienced birders who want to take their knowledge and skills to a higher level. Instruction will be provided through workshops that include both classroom time and field experiences, with the emphasis on the latter. Each workshop will focus on a specific group of birds or a topic that cuts across groups, such as bird song. Applicants must be graduates of PVAS's "Birding 101" course or have commensurate experience (3 or more years of birding)

 Renfrew Institute is sponsoring two off-site birding field trips to Gettysburg National Military Park on two consecutive Saturdays, June 2 and June 9. The guided bird walks are free and open to the public. Participants should meet at 7:30 a.m. at the Virginia memorial on Confederate Avenue on Gettysburg battlefield. The excursion is expected to last until 10 a.m. Naturalist Jack Olszewski will lead the trip. Participants should bring binoculars, bird identification books and cameras, and wear comfortable shoes for walking.

The smallest school district in Franklin County, Pa., is grappling with some huge problems related to finances as it faces possible teacher furloughs, fewer courses and serious supply cuts. Fannett-Metal School District could start the 2012-13 school year with a budget deficit, as it has done in recent years. Deficits have ranged from $270,000 to $600,000 in each of the past three school years. They represent a hefty amount for a school district that operates on a $6.8 million annual budget.

The Potomac Valley Audubon Society will offer a winter tree-identification field trip along the C&O Canal Saturday, Feb. 18, across from Shepherdstown. State forester Herb Peddicord will lead the trip. Participants will meet at 10 a.m. in the parking lot of Ferry Hill Place, the old brick mansion on the Maryland side of the Potomac River that used to be the C&O Canal Park headquarters. The entrance is on Md. 34, just east of the Rumsey Bridge across the Potomac. There is no fee, and anyone with an interest is invited to attend.

When a field trip permission slip comes home with one of my children, I ask a few questions. I want to know where the class is going, what the students will be doing and how much these activities will cost. I'm mainly listening for clues to answer one important question: Does my child want me to go along on this trip? It's not a question to ask outright. Most kids won't tell their parents to stay home, even if the child wants a day away with just friends and a teacher. On the other hand, if a parent acts disinterested, the child might get the wrong impression - that the parent is too busy or that work is more important than taking a day off and spending time together.

An Autism Resource Fair will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, April 28, at the Potomac Center, Activity Room, 1370 Marshall St., Hagerstown. There will be vendor displays, demonstrations, door prizes and games for children. Students who have Autism Spectrum Disorder will describe their experiences in the classroom and society. Crafts made by students in the Autism classes will be for sale. Light snacks, water and fruit will be available. Bring coins for children to play the games.