Field trips offer students the opportunity to learn curriculum in a different environment. Several Wakeland classes have taken advantage of the opportunity to leave the campus and further their learning in unique ways. GT Humanities, which combines AP World curriculum with English, took a field trip to the Dallas Museum of Art earlier this year. Wakeland’s theater department is going to a Texas Thespians convention, and the journalism department is looking forward to an upcoming trip to Boston, Massachusetts.

Going to different places offers students a more engaging experience and a unique way to connect with the curriculum. The students in GT learned about classical civilizations, and they were able to further their learning by studying classical art works.

“A lot of people won’t connect to what they’re learning because it’s just another slideshow or just another presentation. Actually seeing the physical representation of it is a lot more engaging, and it gives people perspective about what they’re actually learning,” sophomore Grace Sawtelle said.

Field trips also give students the opportunity to interact with each other outside of class and talk to classmates they would not normally interact with.

“At first I didn’t think my group was going to be very good because I wasn’t really with any of my friends, but it ended up being really fun because it was a really diverse group of people,” sophomore Arja Singh said.

Teachers also get the opportunity to see their students in a new light and instruct them outside of a classroom setting.

“Being able to see the kids in an environment outside of school was really fun, and seeing them apply real-world social emotional skills in a public setting outside of school was actually really cool. Seeing how great of human beings they are in a different setting was really cool,” humanities teacher Coach Cobb said.

Field trips can be an incredible experience for individual classes, but they are also beneficial for entire departments.

The theater department is taking their annual trip to the Gaylord to participate in the Texas Thespians convention, which is a statewide event held in Dallas and Houston every year. Attending conventions is a wonderful way for students to build connections with other schools and departments.

“I got to talk to officers from other schools and learn how they run their school, and it gave us a lot of ideas for ours,” junior Ava Green said.

The journalism department is attending a conference in Boston, and they will have the opportunity to connect with people from all over the nation that share their interest in journalism. They also have the opportunity to receive feedback from professionals in the field and compete in different events to showcase their talents. For some students, this experience is even more meaningful.

“This will be my first time on a plane and my first time leaving Texas so it’s very different for me. I’m really looking forward to getting to travel with my friends,” junior Alex Spencer said.