Yesterday, I helped to chaperone a field trip to Brevard, NC for the advanced chorus and theater students. Despite the fact that I had to wake up at 5:00 am on a Saturday, it was nice to get out of town for a day, relive some choir tour bus memories, get to know the high schoolers better, help critique some monologues that are really coming along, hear students sing beautiful music, hang out with other teachers, and of course enjoy weather in 50s!!
One of the moments that struck me the most was when driving up the mountains we told the students that their ears might pop from the air pressure. A good many had no idea what we were talking about. They screamed and wondered at what "ear popping" meant. They had NEVER been to the mountains before and had their ears pop. Many we found out had never been out of their small town. Such a small thing that I've taken for granted my whole life. I've grown up with a vast range of experiences that these kids have never experienced. They don't have a reference point for common things. This trip wasn't just about working on their musical/theatre skills, it was about getting them out of Lake City, taking them to a new place, broadening their view of the world, telling them about college, letting them see a beautiful concert hall and organ, pushing them outside of comfort zone, strongly critiquing their work, and in a very real way pushing them to a new level. What a day, what an opportunity.
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