8th Grade D.C. Trip Proposal Draws Large Crowd to MSAD #20 School Board Meeting
[editor’s note: I did not attend this school board meeting because I was given the wrong date by the Superintendent’s office. The following story is compiled from what I was able to glean from the Superintendent’s office and other sources—most of whom were reluctant to speak, for some reason.]
By: David Deschesne
Fort Fairfield Journal, January 22, 2014
A standing-room-only crowd purportedly showed up at the January 13 meeting of the MSAD #20 school board for Fort Fairfield. The item of interest on the agenda was a proposed 8th grade field trip to the District of Columbia and a presentation on as much by 8th grade teacher, Jeff Roberts.
According to Roberts’ written draft of the presentation, the trip to D.C. would involve up to 40 Fort Fairfield Middle School (FFMS) 8th grade students and at least 4 chaperones for a four day, all-inclusive tour that would include seeing all the important landmarks, a meeting with members of Maine’s Congressional delegation, breakfast, dinner and lodging. The trip is proposed for May 30 thru June 2 at a cost of $462 per student. Mr. Roberts was seeking permission from the school board to begin fundraising for the event.
After what’s said to have been a heated debate—bordering on needing to go into executive session [some think this was perhaps the reason this writer was given the wrong date for the meeting]—the school board opted to not take any action on the matter. “There was no vote yes or no and we will continue to look at our options,” wrote Superintendent, Marc Gendron in an e-mail to Fort Fairfield Journal. “His proposal was to fund raise and seek grants to cover the cost of the trip.”
The trip, if approved, would allow the 8th grade class to see all the national memorials, tour the national mall, the White House and the Smithsonian museums, among other stops.
Roberts’ proposal indicates that three subjects; Social Studies, Art and Science would be represented in the field trip through connections with the War Between the States (i.e. “Civil War”), Government, World War and Cold War Memorials, Holocaust Museum, American Art Museum, Portrait Gallery, National Museum of American History, National Air and Space Museum and National Zoo.
What gets murky is whether or not the field trip aligns itself with MSAD #20’s curriculum for 8th grade. When Gendron was asked by this writer if American History is a part of the 8th grade curriculum, he replied, “8th grade field trip is not part of the curriculum. Part of the proposal presented at the meeting included curriculum changes that would have changed that.”
Gendron’s response did not definitively answer whether or not American History is part of the 8th grade curriculum at FFMS, just that the field trip wasn’t a part of it.
In seeking further clarification on the meeting’s events, the proposal and the school board’s position, an e-mail was sent to school board chair, Paula Perkins, but was not responded to. Also, one other school board member was hesitant to speak about the meeting when approached by this writer via phone and in person; further adding to the intrigue surrounding the event.
Mr. Roberts did initially respond to requests for comment by stating in an e-mail to this writer, “Yes I did propose a field trip to Washington DC for my 8th Graders for this Spring (late May to early June). I was looking for approval from the board to start fund raising, but I have not received word yet as to the approval. I have a brochure from the travel tour company and tell you more about what the students would see. Close to a third of my students and their parents showed up as support for this trip.”
However, follow-up questions from this writer to Mr. Roberts curiously went unanswered.
