Wednesday, October 28, 2020

Field Trip Wednesday - Butchering Chickens

 Since August, Bethany has followed their hybrid learning plan with students on campus Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.  In doing so they have left Wednesdays open for e-learning assignments, opportunities for students to get remote help and time for field trips.  Up until now the sophomores had only used these days for asynchronous learning.  That changed today when Cam's biology teacher schedule a field trip for Merry Lea's farmstead to butcher chickens.  Several years ago the thought of Cameron participating in this activity would have freaked me out a little.  I don't even like to touch raw meat let alone kill a live animal.  I got over that when Cam took "meat" for interterm during eighth grade.  This year I was just happy that Cam was able to get out of the traditional classroom setting for a day of learning with his classmates.

When Amy first sent the email for to let us know about the field trip, Doug and I decided that it would be best if I drove Cameron to Merry Lea, especially with COVID outbreaks in our community at an all time high, .  It worked out well for us as it was closer than driving to Bethany.  The bus was a little bit late, but overall it was no problem dropping him off.   I could tell from his reaction that he was excited for the adventure.

I had to be back at Merry Lea by 2:30.  Cam and his classmates were outside listening to someone from the farmstead when I arrived.  I watched them from afar.  I was impressed that everyone was engaged and wearing masks.  Once they were dismissed Cam headed to the car.  I noticed that two other parents had driven to the field trip as well.  Cam filled me in on his adventures on our ride home.  They were divided into groups according to their biology class.  He was pleased with his group.  They spent the morning working with the animals and mulching around the apple trees.  Cam got the bright idea to bury his feet in mulch, but other than that all went well.  Lunch included some class drama, but overall was fun.  Afterward they devoted time to butchering the chickens.  Cameron said that it was interesting as they spent a lot of time on dissecting their animal which he preferred.  Overall, it was the perfect field trip for Cameron. and I was extremely happy that his class were able to participate in this outdoor, hands-on, out of school learning experience.  

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