Field Trips & Outdoor Education
Each year teachers and students from ISHCMC - American Academy attend field trips in Southeast Asia. The field studies program is meant to strengthen relationships, enhance awareness of culture and history, and build valuable outdoor and physical fitness skills. The trips are built into our curriculum. For example, 6th grade Earth Science classes study geological features on the Vietnamese coastline while 9th grade World History students learn about ancient civilization at Angkor Wat in Cambodia.
Trips also include community service elements such as working with schools in the Mekong Delta. Graduating seniors often share that their best memories from high school took place during field study trips.
Trips also include community service elements such as working with schools in the Mekong Delta. Graduating seniors often share that their best memories from high school took place during field study trips.
When I first arrived at ISHCMC - American Academy, the Field Trips were not organized by school faculty. Students were booked into five-star hotels and their wardrobe of high heels and Prada purses gave me a clue that we could use explicit teaching of outdoor skills. Since taking on the role of Field Trip Coordinator, I have:
- Created a Risk Assessment procedure and policy for all school trips
- Forged relationships with travel companies in Vietnam to run high-quality educational trips
- Designed a field trip program from grades 6 to 12 that is focused on Outdoor Education and Teambuilding
- Led the first trip by an international school group to Hang En Cave, the third largest cave in the world, with Oxalis Adventure Tours
- Partnered with Exo Travel to increase parent and student awareness of the benefits of active and outdoor travel
I am currently working with Exo Travel to organize our first Sunbear Scramble, an Amazing-race style competition that will send our 11th graders around Central Vietnam for five days. Our school mascot in the Sunbear, hence the Sunbear Scramble!
We will have five teachers, each with a team of 10 students and a designated minivan driver. Students won't know the itinerary or where they are supposed to end up. We'll fly from Ho Chi Minh City to Hue, and there in the imperial city, the competition will begin with riddles, clues, and challenges. One entire day will be spent on a ropes course completing various obstacles in our teams.
I enjoy organizing and leading field trips, as they get students and teachers out of their comfort zones. Students build their confidence, leadership skills, and collaborative abilities while at the same time learning more about the region, the outdoors, and themselves.
We will have five teachers, each with a team of 10 students and a designated minivan driver. Students won't know the itinerary or where they are supposed to end up. We'll fly from Ho Chi Minh City to Hue, and there in the imperial city, the competition will begin with riddles, clues, and challenges. One entire day will be spent on a ropes course completing various obstacles in our teams.
I enjoy organizing and leading field trips, as they get students and teachers out of their comfort zones. Students build their confidence, leadership skills, and collaborative abilities while at the same time learning more about the region, the outdoors, and themselves.