BLM & Bannack

I was able to go on field trips this spring with my sons that are in elementary school, and I was so glad! For years, I've been unable to go on all the field trips that I wanted to because I was teaching music and always had performances or rehearsals with students and couldn't go with my own children. But since I wasn't teaching music this year, it made it a lot easier to be able to leave when I wanted (and getting subs for myself as an assistant teacher is a lot easier than getting a sub for a music teacher, too!). 

The elementary grades each have their own set places they go for field trips, and this year I got to go on 2 field trips that I hadn't been on before in the past. The 2nd grade has a BLM field trip that I went on with Kanyon, and the 5th grade goes to Bannack State Park in Montana, that I went with the twins to.

Kanyon's field trip was one afternoon in the middle of May. The second grade goes to 3 nearby BLM locations: the BLM/Forest Service building, the Shoup Campground, and the heli-tak at the airport. The 2nd grade was split up into 3 groups, and each group was at one of the locations for an hour, then they rotated to the next place with the help of a school bus. At each of the places there are 4 stations that the kids go to, so each of the large groups is split up into 4 smaller groups. I was in charge of Kanyon, Hesstyn, Elizabeth, and Jesse. Our first stop was the BLM/Forest Service building. They learned about radio signals, weeds, fire supplies, and Kanyon's favorite station was the fire truck. They got to get on the truck, and put out two fires with the fire hose, too. 

Our next stop was the Shoup Campground. They learned about conservation, being responsible while camping, how to play frisbee golf (the BLM has a local course to play on), and Kanyon's favorite station at this stop was the wild fish. He loved seeing the large fish so close, picking up a fish, and holding a fish. In fact, when we got home later that day, he said he loved the fish so much that he wanted to catch a Salmon fish so he could keep it as a pet!!

Making sucker fish faces

Our last stop was the Heli-Tak at the airport. We watched firefighters practice repelling from the tower, which was so fascinating for me! They come from all over the west to practice here in order to get certified. Then we got to take turns on the helicopter simulators, and took a tour of the heli-tak building.

The 5th grade had their field trip to the Ghost Town Bannack on Monday, June 1. Our family has been to Bannack before, but I wasn't able to go on this field trip with Ammon when he was in the 5th grade. The bus ride to get there takes over 2 hours, so we left before school started and got home after school ended. We got to take two buses because there's so many kids in Jonah and Micah's grade, and I rode on the bus that Josh drove! I think that's the first time I've gone on a field trip with the kids where he came, too! When we arrived, we were split into 3 big groups, and then the chaperones were assigned small groups to be in charge of. The 3 big groups rotated between a scavenger hunt, panning for gold, and having a tour guide walk them through the town, and each activity lasted about an hour. Our group did the scavenger hunt first--which was the only time we had to be broken up into mini groups for the day. In our mini group we had Micah, Jonah, Linden, and Carson.

For the scavenger hunt, we were all given a list of things that we had to find the answers to by looking around the town. We got all of our answers done just barely in time, and we were the only mini group in our large group to get it all done! I was so proud of the kids in our group, because they did it all on their own, too. They read the clues, figured it out, and wrote the answers (I saw lots of other groups with the adults doing it all for the kids).   

Micah on the barber chair inside the old bar

Jonah on the old-time spinning barber's chair

Our mini group on the staircase inside the Hotel Meade

Linden, Micah, Carson, and Jonah on the staircase outside above the school
that leads to the Masonic Lodge. 

Josh and the boys by old mining equipment from the nearby mine.
The hill behind them has the cemetery on top, which is where they found the
answer to the last clue. 

Our large group went on the tour of the old Ghost town next with a really awesome tour guide. He knew lots of interesting information, and it was so fascinating to hear the stories about the people and buildings in the town.

Mrs. Baker's group

I just loved this antique baby carriage inside one of the old homes

Our group inside the one-room schoolhouse.

The whole 5th grade had a picnic lunch together after our second station. There's a nice large picnic area across a bridge that leads away from the town.

When lunch was ending, a massive storm system quickly moved in. Our group was headed down to pan gold on the opposite end of town when we got caught in it. We got soaking wet, and the big hailstones hit the back of my legs as we walked/ran, and really hurt! I was glad to finally find shelter under this covered porch! The other groups had stops that were closer to the beginning, and all went inside when the storm hit. We were the only ones that got super soaked!

Thankfully, the storm passed and we still had a little bit of time to pan for gold and garnets, though it wasn't as much time as the other groups got. Josh, Jonah, and Micah all found lots of little garnets, and we got to keep them. We brought home a little bag half-full of the sparkly little red gems!

I had a fantastic time on both field trips, and I know the boys did, too! I'm also really glad that Josh came on the twins' field trip. I enjoyed spending time with him as well--spring is a super busy, very stressful time of year for him, and I don't get to see him very much in May! I'm so grateful for fun educational learning opportunities like these for my children!