When I first started teaching, field trips scared me. I felt overwhelmed with the logistics of planning and funding, not to mention student safety. I love my students, but anyone who works with teenagers knows they are not exactly known for being trustworthy. However, I have taken more field trips with my students this school year than in my last three years of teaching combined- and most of those trips have been within a mile of my school!
We have a great local artist guild and gallery here in Cynthiana- Boyd’s Station Artist Guild and Gallery. It was surprising to me how many of my students had never been in the gallery or even heard of the artist guild. So this year, I began taking my classes to as many of the exhibitions as possible. I took three different different trips in the first semester alone. My students were so excited to get out of the building and see something different (even it was only a mile away) and I was excited for them to see different types of art. Each trip has included visits from the exhibiting artists and/or other artist guild members that my students can talk to in person. They can hear perspectives other than my own and see work on a wall instead of a screen. Plus, the feedback and support from the community has been so positive.
You can see students interacting with the art and the artists in the attached images. They take their sketchbooks and make drawings of various works during our visits to practice their observation skills. They have surprised me with the things they notice and the questions they ask, and some have surprised themselves with the drawings they create.
I can’t wait to take more students to the gallery in the spring!
Alexandra Troxell
Harrison County High School
Harrison County Schools
Grades 9-12
