Originally Posted by
Wondergirl
Every year our school set aside one week of pure hands-on, practical learning and field trips, but no classes. We took the kids horseback riding, to Maywood Park (horse racing track and heard about the betting process), went to Cosley Park (petting zoo with amazing kinds of animals), had a class on manners and poise, did all kinds of crafts and baked bread, toured area museums and places of interest (e.g., a Unity Temple and a Jewish synagogue) and so on. The students signed up or what they wanted to do each day, and the parent signed permission slips. Kids/parents paid nominal fees, as required. The school owned a bus, so transportation came out of school funds. And oh yes, all of this was presented ahead of time at a PTA meeting, so the parents would know what would be going on.
Good grief, smoothy. They were studying this in Civics. You don't think a Caucasian would be able to come up with the idea to visit a mosque for a field trip?
Schools have planning meetings. The teachers and the principal sit around a table on a regular basis and talk about planning and field trips. In my experience, a trip like this didn't have to go above the principal for approval.
That's a bit wild and crazy. An apology was made immediately afterwards. That should be sufficient. Are there parents who are wild-eyed about it?