Let's Take an AdVANture!

"Time to hit the road!", one student exclaimed as the class piled into the twelve-passenger van on their way to explore Olvera Street for the celebration of Día de los Muertos. The excitement was palpable as the students embarked on this new experience into the real world.

This year at Sycamore, the school has been generously supplied with two vans for the purpose of taking students on field trips. By having transportation readily available to the community, students have frequent opportunities to mobilize the classroom and take their learning outside the confines of the school campus.

One of the pillars of Sycamore is continuous learning. It is our goal that every student understands that learning is not limited to school contexts and that opportunities for observing, questioning, and synthesizing are ever-present. Furthermore, it is essential that we provide students chances to engage with the curriculum in authentic and meaningful ways. These vans do just that by allowing students to easily go and meet with experts, explore new perspectives, and experience people and places outside the local community.

So far this year, we have been able to visit Underwood farms to talk with farmers about how they harvest pumpkins, travel to Olvera Street to see how the Mexican-American community celebrates Día de los Muertos, and take a tennis lesson on a full-sized court. Looking forward, we have plans to engage in team building at a ropes course, donate harvest from our garden with local firefighters, and try out some physics at the Kidspace Museum. We can't wait to see where the road may lead!