Dear Parents:
Your son or daughter is being invited to participate in a school field trip. Although your child's trip definitely will be fun, it is fundamentally a learning experience.
How your child will benefit from the trip?
In addition to the academic lessons at the various museums and institutions they'll visit, children will see and do things that they've been learning about all of their lives. (They're going to love to come home and speak from experience about the Statue of Liberty, the Lincoln Memorial or the Château Frontenac, for example.) This process reinforces what they've been taught at home and at school, and that is fundamental to the learning process.
For some younger students, the trip is a first overnight away from home and parents. This expression of confidence imparts a measure of maturity, independence and worldliness in many kids. You'll see the difference when the trip is over.
Your son or daughter will quickly learn that your hometown is not the center of the known universe (of course, it's not necessarily New York City or Chicago or Washington, DC or Boston or Miami either). He or she will learn, and remember, that there are people with different ideas, different tastes, and vastly different lifestyles, literally millions of them, living just a few hundred miles from their home.
Many schools require students to write reports about the exhibits in the museums and institutions they've visited, or about how what they've seen or done relates specifically to some aspect of their curriculum. Often the reports are illustrated with photographs taken with the Ferrania Solaris single-use flash cameras provided by Winged Victory USA.
For some younger students, this assignment is an introduction to the world of photography. We've been told that the trips sometimes bring out the best in the students least expected to respond, and that the cameras (for one example) can be a wonderful opportunity for some students to find a whole new way for some kids to express themselves.
We might add that we've been told that the trips sometimes bring out the best in the students least expected to respond, and that the cameras (for one example) can be a wonderful opportunity for some students to find a new way to express themselves.
In short, your child will probably learn more during a three- or four-day field trip than during any other three or four days in the school year.
We'll be surprised if most of the lessons learned don't stay with them for a lifetime. (Return to top.)
Please note the letter that we've written primarily on various safety issues in the Students' section of this web site. We've asked your son or daughter to share it with you, but we mention it here because we definitely want you to read it. Please click here to view it.
In addition to the safety measures that we try to enforce, in conjunction with your child's teachers (one adult chaperone from your child's school for every tenth student), and an experienced Winged Victory USA guide will escort the group from its arrival at the destination until its departure for home.
Winged Victory USA employs only mature, professional guides, and offers only meticulously planned and genuinely educational activities. Moreover, we house our students (your children) in immaculate, safe hotels that have been researched by senior home office staff, and chosen on the basis of cleanliness and safety. We never use marginal hotels for kids that wouldn't be perfectly appropriate for adults. (Return to top.)
What kinds of clothing should my child pack?
The two most common mistakes we see students making are not bringing shoes appropriate for walking or weather, and not bringing rain gear (clothing or umbrellas).
Please remember that "Spring" means "Rain" in much of North America, and that "April Showers" have been known to spill into May. So your child should take the suggestion to bring weather-resistant shoes and clothing seriously. (Return to top.)
For a five-day weather forecast for the seven destinations to which we operate trips, click on any of the appropriate links below:
| New York Chicago Boston | Washington, DC Miami |
Try this today, then remember to do it again the evening before the trip departs so you'll have a better idea about specifically what kinds of clothes your son or daughter will need for their school field trip. (Return to top.)
An important word about your child's teachers
Your child's teachers have selected this field trip on the basis of its quality and content, and not on the basis of any gratuities paid back to them for selecting our company to plan and operate it.
We empathize with the teachers who lead our trips. We know that some parents think of the field trips as free vacations for the teachers who organize them. This is grossly unfair.
Taking your child on a school field trip is a big responsibility. Teachers typically devote months to pre-trip planning and record keeping, and long, long hours supervising the students while on the trip. In short, the trips are no vacation, and they're hardly free! (Return to top.)
The lessons learned on a school field trip will be long remembered. For some students, the trip is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and for virtually all students, we think the trip will be remembered for the rest of their lives.
We'll do our best to make sure that it is. (Return to top.)