When was the last time you went on a field trip? Perhaps it was in 8th grade, going to Washington, D.C. or AstroCamp. Or maybe it was way back in 7th grade, going to Catalina Island. The point is, for most of us, it’s been multiple years since the last time we went on a field trip with our peers.

Field trips are an essential part of education, and there’s no reason that the trend of taking enjoyable field trips needs to end at the high school level. In fact, we argue that during high school it is the prime time for students to take field trips with their peers. 

High schoolers are at a point in time where they begin to feel fully encompassed by the beast of school, having multiple AP classes, exams, extracurriculars and more all on their plate at any given time. Field trips are a necessary break from the action and give students the opportunity to learn something new and form connections with peers, all while providing them with something to look forward to.

During months such as February that are in a somewhat downtime with no breaks, or no break near in sight, giving students the chance to take a field trip with their peers could be something that they look forward to and can increase their motivation and excitement in school. 

In addition to being an essential hiatus from school, field trips provide real world experiences, equipping students with an ability to better understand the world around them. By connecting what they learn in school to real life situations, students, especially at the high school level, can feel more prepared for individualized life experiences that they will likely face in college and beyond. 

Furthermore, field trips can actually instill academic benefits for the students taking them. According to various studies, it has been shown time and time again that students that take academic field trips will remember concepts better. In-world experiences can be conceptually easier for students to hold on to, and actually have led middle school students who went on science field trips to score higher on their state science test than those who did not. 

Some suggestions for field trips could include specific grade-retreats. Before registration and the first day of school, students could take a 2-3 day retreat with peers to build deeper connections and savor the last bits of summer before starting school. 

One uphill battle that is perhaps the sole reason why field trips are practically nonexistent at OPHS is the practicality of taking field trips. Field trips require immense amounts of paperwork and planning by individual teachers and can be a very grueling and difficult process to get approved. 

In addition to this, on the logistical side of things, taking a field trip and having students miss classes for the entire day(s) could be both confusing and disadvantageous to students. Teachers would constantly have students missing from their classes, and this in itself could be both frustrating and challenging to work through.

However, the OPUSD Board could streamline this process to make it more viable for teachers to plan field trips. This could be done by limiting the amount of paperwork that is repeated year-by-year once a teacher has established a certain field trip. Additionally, with the advent of Google Classroom and other apps, students could better keep track of their workload and plan accordingly. 

In a pinch, virtual field trips could work too. But with the world slowly opening up, in-person field trips are once again becoming reality. The logistics could work if field trips are integrated into the school calendar to make missing classwork less of a problem. 

While these concerns are 100% legitimate, the benefits of field trips far out-weigh the drawbacks. If you were to ask every student on campus about the matter, chances are the vast majority would also demand more field trips. 

The planning and logistics of field trips is something that can be altered, but students missing out on these experiences cannot. OPHS students need field trips, and we strongly believe advocating in this necessity is well worth the effort.