Philosophy Trip 2020

middle schoolers tickling each other and having fun

Every year during their 18 day field trips, the middle schoolers of Arthur Morgan School create a blog, documenting their trip. The students post pictures and write about what they did each day. They get to choose what moments they want to highlight and show off to their parents and friends at home.  The blog […]

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Making the Most of Field Trips

middle schoolers on a field trip looking out at on a bridge

Every spring the middle schoolers of Arthur Morgan School embark on 18 day long field trips.  The trips are the culmination of a five week academic unit in which the students have learned about a specific topic. Sometimes these topics are science based. Other times they are social studies or art based.  This year we are […]

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Addressing Climate Change Through Education

Two middle schoolers laying in the sun.

Two years ago while on an 18 days field trip to Florida, a group of our students visited a city council meeting . On the agenda was addressing the disappearing coastline. To some, a city council meeting might seem boring, but our students were fascinated. They watched the adults in the room talk about how […]

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Teaching about Forced Migrations

teacher showing a middle schooler an artifact from a archaeological dig

The theme of one our three 18 day field trips this year is teaching about forced migrations. In the course preparing for the trip, we will focus on the push/pull factors that have driven three important mass movements of people: the Trail of Tears; the post-Reconstruction “Great Migration” of Black Americans and today’s humanitarian crisis […]

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Why Should Teenagers Work?

four middle schoolers digging mulch

Its a beautiful spring day and several young teenagers are helping me deconstruct a garden bed.  Carmella, an eighth grader, is shoveling mulch into a wheelbarrow that her classmate, Silas, then carries to a new plot.  On a nearby hillside,  a seventh grader and eighth grader are transplanting bushes from one side of a garden […]

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Rebel with a Cause: Supporting Students’ Need to Break Rules

At The Arthur Morgan School, we understand students will try their hands at rebellion, and because of this, we have structures to ensure these forays into defiance are safe. This is where our traditions of Sneak Outs and Raids come in.

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Making Math Relevant: Black Lives Matter at School Week

middle school students doing math

Up until middle school, students understand how math is relevant. Combining numbers, multiplying fractions or calculating the area of a shape are skills that students understand will help them make sense of the real world. But walk into most middle school algebra classes, and you will invariably hear the question, “When am I ever going to […]

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Teaching Scientific Literacy this Field Trip Unit

It’s crucial that adolescents feel safe in testing these “what ifs.” And it’s equally crucial for them to experience the scientific method. Ideally both in and out of the classroom. At Arthur Morgan School, this is a priority.

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The Value of Field Trips

a middle schooler talking to a duck

When you think back on your school days, I would venture a guess that some of your most prominent memories involve school trips. I can barely remember my second grade teacher’s name, but I still recall in vivid detail the half day excursion we took to the police station. Unfortunately field trips are quickly becoming […]

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