Sky Ranch – School Trip Tips!

A camp in Texas offers educational trips for schools as field trips, and our oldest daughter’s fifth grade class was able to partake in a 2-night trip this past week at Sky Ranch.  I was fortunate to attend as a chaperone, and cannot speak highly enough about the overall experience.  So what are my top tips for getting the MostPerMile for a school field trip to Sky Ranch?

 

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Have a Positive Attitude

Almost all activities are located in the most amazing classroom ever: the outdoors.  Have the mental attitude that it may be hot, it may be cold, and it may have variable weather throughout the day.  Do not let temperature variance discourage you or your child.   Packing a poncho and an extra pair of shoes is a great plan, as the poncho will cover the small backpack your child takes (to hold their journal, pencil, flashlight, chapstick, water bottle, and money for store / snack bar) while the extra pair of shoes will come in handy in case one pair gets wet (we always pack our Keens for any trip).  Because I am a weenie, I packed hand warmers.  In fact, I brought over a dozen, and on our final morning when temperatures really dropped, I handed them out to students in my class group and encouraged them to share.  No, I didn’t include hand sanitizer or an additional parent permission letter, but we all survived with two brands of hand warmers I brought. 

The same is true for the sessions:  there may be sessions that are appealing to one person but not the next, but alas, they move quickly and are on to the next session before anyone realizes it.  Sessions are interactive, educational, involve some movement and some sitting, and are led by camp staff who all have college degrees along with various training.

Pack Efficiently

When it is suggested to bring one bag for clothing / personal items and one bag (such as a trash bag) for linens, it’s for a reason!  It helps keep packing to a manageable size per student as well as keeps it consistent.  Goodness, some parents have a hard time managing their own two or three children on a trip, but can you imagine taking over 100 fifth graders?  Or what about schools that are larger?  Students will be carrying their own luggage from the luggage carts to their cabins, setting up their beds, and re-packing at the end of their stay… not their volunteer chaperones.

The experts at camps who have done these camps for years know what has worked and not worked, including a list of recommended items as well as a list of items to not bring.  With so many food allergies today other than just peanut allergies, along with bugs that can get into cabins, when it is suggested to not bring snacks, your school is not being mean… there is a reason!  With technology these days, getting the opportunity to see so many children engaged in various activities without their heads buried in a phone / ipad / kindle brought this momma a huge breath of fresh air.  They had the opportunity to socialize and work with classmates they may have never met before!   As parents, we can model these guidelines with our own children by reinforcing them when helping them pack, or in my case, doing a spot-check of what my child did pack since I gave her the packing list and said it’s up to you to get packed!   Chaperones, teachers and volunteer nurse on duty are each provided a walkie-talkie, so there is no need to bring one, and usually a parent will bring a good camera to take great pictures of the students like I did to give the memory card to the school once we are back home.

Packing tip:

What we found to work best was a backpack for our clothing / personal items, and then we were hands-free to carry our own garbage bag of linens / towels.  As a chaperone who slept upstairs, only having a few items to haul up the ladder was nice.  It was also appreciated that trailers transported our luggage to a nearby drop-spot as opposed to hauling our luggage all the way from the bus drop-off in the green parking lot.  (Side note: I was thankful for there being posted signs regarding nobody under 18 upstairs without supervision as I immediately made it clear all students would remain

on the bottom floor versus going up the ladder for safety purposes.  Fortunately we had zero issues with that.)

Another packing tidbit would be to add an extra garbage bag for the return trip in case the original gets ripped, along with a couple plastic grocery bags in case your child has any wet items to bring home for any reason (rain, towel wet after morning shower, etc).  We used a white kitchen garbage bag so that a sharpie could easily be used to mark a name on it.  Our campers needed to have luggage loaded on the trailers by 7:10am in order to

make it to the soccer fields for 7:20am gathering prior to breakfast that final morning, so efficient packing helped our kiddos manage time wisely and not be late.  (As a chaperone, I am not going to be walking in late!)  We also found that a headlamp (for families who already camp) may work for some children, but carrying

the flashlight in their hand to aim towards the ground worked just fine.  We kept these in our backpacks at the foot of our beds so they were easily accessible in the cabin at night should they be needed.  Also, while it was suggested to bring a little bit of spending money, keeping it to no more than $20 would be this momma’s recommendation in case it got lost or they chose to purchase junk food.  Enough to have a little fun but not to be worrisome.  Students could grab a piece of fresh fruit at every meal to toss in their backpack if they were worried about getting hungry later, so really no need for extra money anyway as there were water filling stations as well!

Also, should your child be disruptive to the point of needing a parent to come pick them up, packing up just two bags is quick and easy.  Fortunately we had no students face that, although as a chaperone I did remind mine the first night that any rumors of sneaking out after lights out would be an immediate phone call home at whatever time it was if they were caught outside.  Whether or not that was protocol I don’t know, but we had zero issues in my cabin yet still had a lot of fun!  My girls totally ROCKED!!  Plus, packing was a breeze with very minimal

cleanup needed after all luggage was set outside.

 

Enjoy the Educational Activities

Various educational activities range from topics such as limnology, forces of nature, challenges, and more!  There may be a few sessions dealing with these topics to vary up the activities throughout that unit of study, but

as an educator for almost 15 years and still a certified principal, I constantly found my educator brain kicking in while attending these.  Camp counselors would ask delving questions, allow for appropriate wait time, learn student names, reinforce, and of course redirect behavior as needed in a loving, compassionate way.  The TEKS (educational components Texas uses) were evident in the content being taught.  While some students may be in various programs at school, such as Special Education, Gifted Talented, Dual Language, etcetera, I found that all students were on a level playing field with these activities and had an 

opportunity to thrive!  When one child may not be so great at academics at school, they could be learning about the safety of fishing and types of fish… yet know enough to teach their classmates about that hands-on session.         

            

 

Many students (and chaperones!) may have never seen the dissection of a fish they just caught from the lake, yet TEKS were tied into the lesson and all students were given the option more than once to step to another part of the dock with chaperones.  The variety of educational activities created an opportunity for all students to enjoy learning and make the MostPerMile out of their newfound knowledge.  I totally did not expect to see the lens of a fish eye, and will share that the following pictures were taken by my daughter as I was using my phone for pictures at this point.

  

Have Fun!!

Recreational activities are provided throughout the trip in a variety of capacities.  During our trip, students had choices within four main zones, could attempt zip lining for the first time ever, shoot some hoops, play pingpong, enjoy a new game of Nine Square In The Air, and more.  Counselors, teachers and chaperones circulated among children to not only actively monitor the activities but to engage with the students.  When I saw our principal playing volleyball, an assistant principal dressed up as some sort of dragon (I think), and a teacher dressed up as a chef while playing Clue, I knew our children were loved.  A teacher placing a loving arm around a student as the two were in helmets and gear to tackle the zip line warmed my heart, and chaperones helping console any first night tears of being away from home… ever… showed me how so many adults poured compassion into our students.  Each person, from student through adult, chose to have fun even if it was not an activity they would typically do at home, and personally get the MostPerMile out of this amazing experience.

 

       

Final Tip:

Appreciate Everything

So many times in life these days, we take things for granted.  Some may live in what is perceived as an entitled society while others may not get to experience a week away at summer camp.  A full, family-style meal three times a day with new friends, fresh fruit, salad bar, and a variety of things to eat and drink is not what every child normally gets at home.  Learning to put sheets on one’s own bed or re-pack their belongings at the end of trip may be the first ever for a child. Adults appreciating a cup of coffee even if it didn’t have their favorite brand name on it.

      

Not having a technology device attached to them nonstop allows children to be just that: children.

• Children with a curiosity about the world around them.
• Children who need to learn to interact with peers and adults they may have just met.
• Children who want to be able to fly with their own wings just for two nights in making sure they get their teeth brushed without mom hounding them.
• Taking a step back and learning that all these things – big and small – are about appreciation.
• Most importantly, learning to look someone in the eye and verbalize to those around you a simple “Thank you” when leaving a session, or for the nurse who was radioed late at night to bring ice for shutting the door on your finger or re-wrapping bandages from when you fell while running when you should not have been (this goes for adults as well!).  Even saying “Thank you” to the male teacher who came to assassinate a wasp in your cabin after evacuating the girls to the other side (yes, that would be me – I already admitted above I am a weenie and need hand warmers!).
• Appreciate if you hitch a ride on your school’s golf cart because you were behind taking pictures of another group and didn’t feel like jogging to catch up!!  (Yes, each school was provided a golf cart, which also helped out the nurse immensely!)

Appreciate each and every moment we are given as we are not guaranteed a tomorrow.  Appreciate that our children have teachers who genuinely love them – I saw this time and time again in multiple scenarios during my trip which only made me more thankful for our educators devoting their lives to our children.   Most importantly, appreciate making the MostPerMile out of what we are given!