Students sitting in class, the teacher anchored at the promethean board, drones on through the lesson as the students fight off sleep. Instead of forcing students to sit through lectures, field trips offer students a chance to bring those lectures to life.

Adding more field trips would not only be an opportunity for students to enjoy their education but it would also provide benefits for both teachers and students by providing a different style of learning. RHS should incorporate more field trips into its core classes such as English, math, science and social studies to provide students with more interactive learning as well as an opportunity to improve their knowledge on the respective subject.

Field trips often provide students with important information in addition to what they learn in the classroom. In 2013, 10,912 students were studied on how enriching field trips can be to their education by the University of Arkansas. Half of the students attended the Crystal Bridges Museum of Art in Northwest Arkansas at the beginning of the year and the other half attended the field trip at a later date. After the survey, 82 percent of students who visited the museum first were later able to recall more information on art, historical empathy and tolerance, according to The Atlantic Magazine in a 2013 article. The study highlights that field trips can help students cognitively, specifically in memory, information retention and critical thinking.

Additionally, test scores make up a large part of a student’s resume and field trips help boost those scores. Students who participated in field trips through the Urban Advantage program score better on the state science test in a study by Emilyn Ruble Whitesell, a fifth-year doctoral student at NYU’s Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. This is largely due to students paying more attention when there are interactive activities outside of the classroom.

There are students who view field trips as a way to get out of school. Though these students who slack off cannot be controlled, the majority of students don’t. The benefits of field trips outweigh a couple slacking kids.

Honors chemistry teacher Anu Gupta said she believes in more field trips offered for students. As a science teacher, Gupta sees how various types of labs can help students find their passion for a certain future job because they are involved in their learning.

In order to add more field trips to curriculum, departments should hold monthly meetings where they propose ideas to provide students more interactive learning through field trips. Additionally, each school should add a field trip coordinator who will work to find field trips that are beneficial to students and teachers.

Currently, there are not enough field trips and that needs to change. If more field trips aren’t added, students will find school less and less interesting and their education will suffer as a result. It is time to take learning out of the classroom and into the real world so students have a better idea of what their future might look like.