Field and Service Learning Trips
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Intentional Community Blog Power Trip Blog Tex Mex Blog
This year's field trips, pictured above, departed campus on March 1, 2010 and will return on the 18th of March. The three groups - listed from left to right - are studying Intentional Communities; Power Production, Sources and Impacts; and Immigration and Border Issues.
During February and March the AMS
program goes on the road, breaking up into three different field trip
groups. Typically, each trip has eight or nine students and three staff
members. Some common overnight stays of previous trips have included
major cities, small towns, and state parks in Louisiana, Alabama,
Georgia, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, Arkansas, Florida,
New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Mexico and Mississippi.
Each field trip is service oriented; students and staff arrange work
projects and community service activities that they will participate in
as a part of their journey. Our planning process begins no later than
January and extends until trips depart during the last week of
February. During this time, field trip groups have at least one meeting
a week.
Students actively participate in decisions about trip educational
themes, where to stay, what kind of service work to do, who to contact,
and what to pack. When it comes to the details of planning, students
make contact with organizations and families that we will stay with in
order to plan overnight lodging and service projects.
Over the years, AMS
has built up a large extended family of people, places, and
organizations that have hosted field trip groups for decades. Keeping
these connections strong and building on them is a part of the field
trip experience.
In addition to experiencing the rewards of doing good work for others,
students learn social and practical skills during service learning
trips: the ability to meet and work with new people, adapt to a new
setting and step out of one’s own comfort zone; the motivation to make
a meaningful difference through community service projects; map
reading, on-the-road planning skills and vehicle maintenance; respect
and patience with others under pressure and a willingness to help;
upholding the reputation of the school and recruiting potential
students; and contributing positively to group dynamics.
In addition, each field trip group chooses an educational theme. This
might be a current event or local issue that the group is especially
interested in exploring. Themes from past trips include: Civil Rights
History, Environmental Impact of Energy Sources, Coastal Ecology, Art
and Hunger, Justice and the Prison System, Mississippi River Watershed,
and Immigration and Border Patrol Issues.
During Spring Break, students receive written evaluations from the
field trip leaders about their performance and contributions,
acknowledging the importance of these trips in the educational life of
students at AMS.
