New Vista School’s extended day field trip (EFT) program provides students with an opportunity to push themselves outside of their comfort zone and gain valuable life experiences in the real world. Our EFTs immerses students into a variety of community situations where they are challenged to implement life skills that have been explicitly taught and modeled in the classroom. With proper staff support, students are able to manage their money, make purchases, demonstrate community safety skills all while managing their own behavior in a variety of environments.
Students on this year’s trip were taken to a variety of San Diego’s world class museums including; The Museum of Natural History, Fleet Science Center, and San Diego Harbor’s Maritime Museum. Our day began at 7am when students departed from NVS in order to have an early breakfast at the Coronado Hotel. Students are guided as to what foods are appropriate to eat considering their dietary restrictions and given support in making all transactions.
At the Museum of Natural History the class was instructed on the vast geological and biological history of our planet. At the Fleet Science Center, students were given hands on science experiments that taught them the value of using renewable resources and the value of preserving our environment. At the Air and Space Museum students as well as the Automobile Museum, students learned about some of mankind’s greatest technological marvels of the 20th century.
One of the highlights of our EFT was visiting the San Diego Maritime Museum. Students were able to explore famous ships such as The Star of India as well as submarines used in World War II. Students had to challenge their physical endurance and mental stamina as they crawled through the narrow corridors of the submarine and experienced what it would have been like to live in less than ideal quarters.
New Vista School’s Extended Field Trip program provides students with the opportunity to experience an immersive style of education that cannot be had in a typical classroom setting. Our students may have gone home exhausted, but they return with valuable life experiences and memories they won’t soon forget.