Field Trip Includes Apostolics, Team Building
On the 17th of April, Summit Academy’s seventh and eighth graders took an interesting field trip which entailed an apostolic mission, an economic learning activity with a team building component and a little competition, great food, and loads of fun.
The students were transported to St. Mary’s Church in Cottonwood, directly after morning prayers, where they cleaned the church and spent time in adoration. While two students reflected in the front of the church, the others cleaned with the supplies set out for them by Mrs. Vicki Shears; the students rotated work and adoration over the course of two hours. After the church was thoroughly cleaned, Mrs. Shears expressed her gratitude and appreciation for their hard work. The students returned to the back of St. Mary’s and their teacher Debra Burkhalter sat them down and surprised them with their next task, this one was easier said than done. They were to buy their ingredients, build a fire, and make their own dutch-oven lunches for the group. The students would be split into two groups. Each person would have five dollars, giving the four-person teams $20 each. The students were to use this money to buy everything they needed, not exceeding the $20 limit.
Group A had troubles with the cost and went over the maximum price the first time so they took off the gourmet seasoning. Their final cost was $17.64. Group A started a fire with no problem at all and was able to start cooking almost immediately. Group A made hamburgers with a side dish of pork and beans, which took about 30 minutes to cook. The hamburgers were a bit of a challenge to cook on a pan, but they tasted great nonetheless with flavors of salt, ash, and smoke.
Group B decided to make spaghetti with sides of potato chips, grapes, and carrot sticks. Their dessert was s’mores and they had 7 Up as their drink. They already had the chips and s’mores supplies from home. When Group B got to the store they used a calculator to find the total of everything they bought before they checked out. After they checked out, their total was $19.94. When they got there, they had troubles starting a fire because all of the wood was wet. Miss Burkhalter thankfully came to the rescue with fire starters, lighter fuel, and briquettes. They spent about an hour making the fire with the help of Amy Rose and Donna Wassmuth. They also spent 30 minutes cooking the food. When lunch was done, they all shared the food they had brought and cooked.
After the lunch was cooked and eaten, the students picked red willows by the creek. These willows would be used to make a basket. The students returned to school where they wove the basket over several weeks. The basket will be used to hold their Mystery Night project of homemade paper. In the end, the field trip was enjoyed by all. Thank you to Miss Burkhalter, Amy Rose, and Donna Wassmuth for chaperoning.
