HOSA and Honey Boo-Boo

I survived my first field trip this week. I took 21 students to the HOSA Fall Rally in Perry, GA. It was a 3 hour school bus ride (one way!!). We left at 6:30 a.m., and got back to the school with all students picked-up at 7:30 p.m. To say the least it was a long day. I was nervous about my first solo adventure and the preparation required to pull it all off was considerable, so the question is.....was it worth it? And the answer is, yes. Thankfully, the students were positive, excited and well-behaved. I have a few student leaders who were extremely helpful and I think over-all it was time well spent. The students had a short competitive event and then an enjoyable motivational speaker with several thousand other HOSA students. The HOSA group who sat directly in front of us had the quasi-famous reality star "Chubs" in attendance. For those who don't follow the wildly popular reality show, that's Honey Boo-Boo's sister. My students had a ball getting their picture taken with her. However, what I think was the most redeeming quality of the day, besides the funnel cake, the snake-skin woman, and the hurley whirl, was the somewhat illusive gift of relationship. There is something about stepping out of the confines of the classroom with your students. I was still the teacher and they were still my students but a unique bond forms when the goal, at least for a little while,  is to just have fun together. Alas, no standards were met or literacy leaps were achieved. Yet I dare to say that seeds were planted that day that will probably yield a more gererous harvest.