It may surprise teachers that the reason why students opt out of excursions is because they don’t want to miss school
English department chair, John Cadwell, explained how it’s disappointing that many students choose to pass on these out of class experiences.

“The teachers who are offering the field trips have put a great deal of time and energy into making sure they’re integral to the course and help advance the objectives of the course,” Cadwell said. “They are not whimsical in terms of selection.”

Junior Julia Bosco explained that there is too much pressure within the school to get work done on time to risk falling behind.

“I think students don’t want to risk putting their grades in jeopardy to go on an excursion, even if it’s for educational purposes,” Bosco said.
When we were younger, we begged our parents to let us stay home from school or would fake sick, but these days we turn down opportunities to skip school and insist on going to classes for fear of falling behind.

Junior RJ Meyer said he loved missing school as a kid and still does, but the stress of junior year has made missing school or going on excursions a less enjoyable experience.

“Now, even though I have the choice to go on excursions or skip school, I typically choose school because the added stress of making up class work, tests, or quizzes is unappealing,” Meyer said.

Meyer raises an interesting point. It may depend on the age group going on the excursion, along with the workload this is correlated with that year — with junior year and first semester senior year barring the most weight.

Second semester senior Elena Karras said she jumps at every opportunity to miss school.

“As a senior, it’s easier to miss school, whereas I kind of understand why juniors and sophomores don’t go on excursions because they still have a heavy workload.”

Karras said, “If excursions were less school-based and more experience based, then I feel like students would be more compelled to miss school because it would be more fun and seem more like a break.”

The idea of making up work seems to be the number one thing that drives students away from participating in excursions.

Junior Brett Zaslavsky said, “I think when you have a system where testing days are staggered and classes are almost always on different pages, there’s no such thing as a good day to miss,” Zaslavsky said. “Unless the excursion is absolutely vital, students find it necessary to be at school to get that information, know what they’re working on, and participate in class to enhance their education.”

Cadwell emphasized that New Trier’s teachers are very flexible with understanding makeup work from excursions.

“For the students to not choose to go on excursions because of fear of ‘make-up work’ means they are missing out on what we feel is an important part of the learning experience of the course.”

Junior Francis Fay believes all students should take advantage of excursion opportunities, identifying the importance of excursions and educational experiences away from school.

“Since you’re in school for a majority of the days throughout the year, it would be nice every once in a while to learn in a different environment and get out of your comfort zone,” Fay said.

Cadwell described the significance of these excursions as necessary learning experiences. “We want to make sure students takes advantage of other field trips, and as a school we have committed ourselves to expanding the range of experiences so that the learning is more advanced and effective outside of the classroom.”