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extracurricular activities. But, according Wagner, the district finds a way. “We cut cost in many ways. I, as the director of trans-
portation, assess the true cost to transport our students and attach a fee paid for by the student fund-raisers, parent participation and donations from the commu- nity. We group our schools together; loading our buses in the most efficient means to meet their needs as well as reducing the number of assets required to accom- plish the task,” explained Wagner. “For instance, we will send the girls volleyball team in the same bus as the boys basketball team and even more than one school to [the same] tournaments.” Wagner has also reduced costs by using a coopera-
tive to purchase larger quantities of fuel, maximizing bus route structure to avoid duplication and creating a sense of community so that the residents understand the im- portance of certain extracurricular trips. Te district’s marching band is well-renowned throughout the South- west United States and has participated in parades nearby in Tucson and Phoenix and as far away as Disneyland. Tis can instill a sense of pride in the community as a whole and make them more willing to make donations. “Our parent’s pride is exhibited in their desire to travel to watch their son or daughter perform, and we
❝
the classroom. Parkway School District in Chesterfield, Mo., invites members of the community into the class- room to teach lessons on subjects such as art. “While this may not be as real as visiting them outside
the school, it does create some excitement and interest in students,” said Director of Transportation Will Rosa. Advances in technology have also added to the dis-
trict’s classroom experience as many of the classes now have smart boards, interactive whiteboards that allow teachers to deliver lessons that are more dynamic and give the students more of a chance to make the les- sons their own. But, Rosa also definitely understands the need for taking the students out of the classroom. “Although I am not on the education side, I know
from my own participation with my kids that some of the learning experiences are unique and can only be done out of the building,” added Rosa. “Seeing art up close and personal helps connect the kids with the art- ist. When you are standing three feet from an original painting, looking at the intricate detail, it captures your attention. Tere is no substitute for that experience, even with the newest and best textbooks available.” While transportation related to sport teams is also im-
portant in many districts, some transportation directors believe there needs to be a balance between academic and
Field trips are an excellent tool to relieve the monotony
and stress of the classroom that many students experience throughout the year.❞
— Bill Wagner, Gadsden Elementary School District
as a district will provide them the transportation to the event for a fee that is less expensive than their personal travel and offsets the cost of their students’ travel,” added Wagner. Sometimes districts look to local counterparts to help
cut costs. Although Jackson, Mich., students have seen their field trips vastly reduced in the last couple of years, Jackson Public Schools Director of Transportation Craig Frazier still finds ways to help the students “experience the things they would never experience otherwise” if it were not for field trips. When it comes time to plan trips, Frazier attempts to
work them into regular runs, sometimes altering pick- up times or providing shuttles to multiple classrooms to offset the costs. He has also offered to team up with other districts. To reduce costs but continue to expand students’ minds, some districts are bringing the field trip into
athletic trips. While Carolyn Jones sees field trips as a way to show students there are other places they can learn out- side of the classroom, the transportation director of Leakey (Texas) Independent School District also understands how the budget can affect the availability of these trips for stu- dents. Currently, only elementary students are budgeted to go on extracurricular trips. “In our area, there are a lot of exotic ranches and in-
teresting places to visit that students would enjoy,” said Jones, adding that sometimes local groups like the Li- ons Club and the Masonic Lodge offer to sponsor some of the field trips or provide meals. And while she understands that it is sometimes neces-
sary for sports events to be out of town, she feels that if the games were planned more “budget friendly,” as far as frequency and location, it would have a tremendous im- pact on fuel usage as well as wear and tear on the buses. For other districts, athletic trips are the only type of
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