Students Ask BOE to Keep Field Trip

Students spoke with words of disappointment at the Board of Education meeting on Nov. 21 at  after learning that a fifth grade field trip to Commerce Plaza to learn about business and economics had been removed from the school program.

“Commerce Plaza is the first experience of having a job," Sarah Kaplan said. "It’s a chance to dress up and pretend to be a grownup. I’m sad my sister will not be afforded the opportunity to go on this trip."

The field trip, which has become a staple in the fifth grade classes, is a hands-on educational experience in which students are put into a simulated work environment, where they are exposed to daily life as an employee in the business world. They are taught how to balance a checkbook, work on a team, ask for job references, and other work force skills.

Mary Rettaliata, assistant superintendent for elementary education, said that the field trip was removed because educators expressed concerns that it took too much time away from the classroom and regular curriculum.

Bridget Gibs, a sixth grade student at , said that the trip is “one of the most memorable experiences of fifth grade.”

Last year, the students visited the Commerce Plaza branch of Capital One Bank.