Natalie's first grade field trip to Jackson Bottom Wetlands has been my most memorable field trip ever so far. I LOVE Jackson Bottom and think they do a fantastic job at the field trips. I went with Sarah for her first grade and loved it. However, hers was earlier in the year which proved to be a better time. I'll explain later... At first, everything went fabulous. above is the station where the volunteer encourages the kids to fill up a film canister with various objects that they find to make a nature potpourri. I love the looks on Natalie and Emma's faces - I guess they don't like how nature smells!
This was the station where the kids looked for birds and talked about animals' sense of sight.
Angela, my field trip buddy. Next year she'll get to go on her own field trips!
Natalie playing bat and moth. Her glasses were blinders and she had to use her sense of sound to find her prey. He had to echo when she'd call out to him - just like echolocation. (sort of!) After this station, we enjoyed a nice picnic lunch and looked forward to our turn to hike in the wetlands. This is when things took a turn for the worse.
After enjoying my PB&J, Natalie's teacher, Mrs. B. approached me and asked if I'd be in charge of the group going on the hike. She had to stay with a student who had a severe allergic reaction to the pollen on the hike. I was also told that there weren't enough Jackson Bottom volunteers, so I would also be leading the hike. What?? I didn't really know my way around. A lady handed me a map and showed me where to take the kids and suddenly I was in charge of 40+ parents and kids on a hike I hadn't been on in two years. Luckily, I had other parents who sympathized with me and helped out. We managed to find our way around, but I have to admit, it was a bit stressful.
I was happy to spot the pond we were headed to, but things started taking a turn for the worse again as some of the kids with allergies started having reactions to the pollen. Luckily, I had a spare water bottle in my backpack. We had to flush one boy's eyes with the water because they were swelling up and itching so bad. We quickly headed back on the trail and I got a little huffing from one of the workers for not taking long enough on the hike. When I explained the problem, the teachers started gathering all the kids who were having bad allergies. In all, there were approximately 10 who were having severe reactions and tens more whose noses were running and eyes itching. Soon, the paramedics arrived! One of the moms is an RN and was concerned at how bad some of the children's swelling in their eyes was. While the paramedics checked the poor victims of allergies, we had to keep the rest of the kids seated and under control for a good half hour. Natalie proclaimed, "This is the WORST field trip ever!" I think some of those poor kids with such bad allergies could definitely say that, but Natalie and Angela and I were very lucky. We didn't have any problems at all, but I have to admit, I was happy when it was finally time to go!
Just before several hikers started dropping like flies to the horrible allergies. Next time, a winter or fall field trip might be better!
