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What happens when a field trip goes awry?

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A FIELD TRIP GOES AWRY?

Last Tuesday, I led a group of 75 students and their parents on an oceanography field trip out of San Pedro, CA.  However, it didn’t turn out quite the way I wanted.

Garrett on boat

Field Trip Boy on a haul and troll off the coast of San Pedro.

Originally, I had scheduled a 2 hour floating science lab for the children.

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Field Trip attendees boarding the boat.

Instead, we spent 3 1/2 hours on the boat and saw very little marine life.  I was not a very happy field trip coordinator by the end of the day.

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The Port of Los Angeles.

So what happens when a field trip that you plan goes awry?  From my experience, this is what I recommend:

1. Ask the company that you hired to lead the field trip to please tell your attendees what happen.

On our field trip we were suppose to do a haul and troll.  Basically, this is when crew collects sea life from the bottom of the ocean floor for students to explore.  At the end of the trip the sea life is returned to the ocean for future explorers.

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The ship crew lowering the net into the ocean.

However, in our specific case when the captain lowered the net down it caught on something and broke.  It was not his fault, but it was sad to see.

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The net that broke on our field trip.

Therefore, I asked the captain to please explain to my families what happened.  This helped them to understand that this was not a direct result of anything SoCal Field Trips had done and warded off any future questions I would have had to answer about it.

2. Review the original field trip contact that you signed.

On our contract I verified that our tour was suppose to go from 11 am – 1 pm.  Instead it lasted 3 1/2 hours!  This was a bummer, because I had purposely scheduled our trip to end by 1 pm so that my families could avoid the afternoon traffic rush.

3.  Ask the field trip company to either reschedule your trip for another day or provide you with a refund. 

In our specific contract there was no such clause.  So when I got home I called and asked the company how could we resolve the problem.  We are now discussing an appropriate resolution.  Thankfully all of my families have been kind and patient in the process.

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Field Trip Boy and Field Trip Girl heading home after our adventure at sea.

Dealing with the aftermath of a field trip that goes awry can either go well or head in the opposite direction really fast.  It all depends on how you handle the situation and the quality of the field trip venue’s customer service before and after the trip.  Good luck in your field trip planning this school year!

Happy Field Tripping!

Jilleen

Disclosure: All points of view and opinions are our own.