Outer Space, or a Field Trip with Sixth Graders!

Two weeks ago today I was just stepping off a school bus. Now, as a former middle school teacher and as someone who lives with a middle school teacher, I've ridden my share of buses since I graduated from public school. They're big, they're yellow, they're bumpy, they're still smelly (especially when filled with sixth grade boys) and they're all driven by people who are not paid enough money to do what they do.

I was stepping off a school bus because six hours prior I had stepped onto one and been driven to the California Science Center along with Angela, another sixth grade teacher, a counselor at their school, several moms and one other sister, and 79 sixth graders. It was Angela's first field trip (our team golf outings never counted in Yuma because there were only a handful of kids and they always met us at the course and got picked up) and, due to her planning and hard work, it was awesome.

At the Science Center we toured the space shuttle Endeavor, the exhibits, ate lunch, listened to a real live astronaut speak about being up in Endeavor, and of course, raided the gift shop. All 90 plus of us. And it went smoothly and with only minor incidents. (The group with a mother attached wasn't lost really, they were just still absorbed in the hurricane simulator while we were looking for them so we could leave!)

I didn't have my own group of kids, I was Angela's chaperon. My job was to be her second set of eyes and ears, to hike back to the bus and schlep all the lunches to the grassy area where the kids could eat, to keep an eye on chaperons who seemed nervous or weren't used to watching out for so many kids at once, and to make sure we all got back on the bus. A lot of counting was involved. Luckily we had a really cool bus driver who was also really good at counting. (Seriously, if you've never been a chaperon you have no idea the counting you do. You do not want to be the adult who loses a child. All it takes is one to ruin the whole day.)

Here are some things I observed/learned/overheard on our day together:

• Sixth grade boys, on a whole, don't throw the ball to girls during silent ball. But those who do? (And there was one who did that morning...) Very, very smart.
• Also? Silent ball is not very silent in sixth grade. 
• Also? Did you know you can change the rules to silent ball mid-game? Apparently you can. We almost had a Lord of the Flies situation. I was ready to bolt. Every man for himself, right? 
• On the bus I sat next to two young men who were having a very serious conversation about how Eminem (yes, the rapper who I figured was too old school for them, I mean really, who is introducing these kids to Eminem because it's not Ryan Seacrest) is so bad because he's short. (For the record, according to Google, Eminem is 5'8" - I would have pegged him a little taller but then again, I'm a fan. Unlike a certain group of Los Angeles middle schoolers.)
•  At one point, midway through our exploration of the Endeavor exhibit, our group acquired an elderly man in a blue shirt. He seemed harmless, enjoyed looking over everything, and seemed oblivious to the fact that he was surrounded by screeching preteens. I figured he couldn't hear us. And I was glad we'd packed the extra school lunches no one would claim back at the school.
• Fake fart contests are a popular way to spend a bus ride.
• More than one kid didn't believe me when I tried telling her that what we were looking at was the real space shuttle. That had been up in space. 
  

They were incredulous. They were blown away. And frankly? That's what made the whole crazy day worth it. The fact that they got to see something that had been up in space. That they got to touch something that had been up in space. That they got to dream, for a few hours, about what it might be like to be up in space. How cool is that?

For me science class was never very interesting. I still don't know the different levels of the earth or why protons and neutrons and electrons are important. But I love learning about things like space and flight and zero gravity. I sat transfixed during the videos they showed that day, wondering myself what it might be like to be in one of those suits, up there looking down on everything.

And I love that there are teachers like Angela who spend their own time and some of their own money to take their kids on field trips like this one. I love that. I can't wait for the next one!