THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, December 8, 1994 TAG: 9412060192
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 15 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JOAN C. STANUS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 108 lines
Sarah Peoples knows what it's like to be walled in by poverty.
As one of 13 children in her family, Peoples rarely got a chance to travel beyond her neighborhood of Roberts Park while growing up during the '50s. Her parents simply couldn't afford to take vacations and other trips.
Now a fifth-grade teacher at the Willard Model School at Lakewood and an admitted ``travel junkie,'' this Norfolk native wants more for her students than she had. She wants them to be able to touch, feel and see firsthand the historic places they are studying in the classroom.
So, with approval from the School Board, administrators and parents, Peoples will lead 31 children and 13 adult chaperons on a five-day, four-night trip April 10-14 to Washington, Philadelphia and New York to see the sights. These children aren't going to learn American history from a book; they're going where it happened.
Included on their whirlwind itinerary will be visits to the Washington Monument, the Capitol, the Franklin Institute, the Liberty Bell Pavilion, Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, the Empire State Building and a Broadway show. The entire trip will be crammed into their spring break.
``It's a lot in five days,'' admits Peoples, a Norfolk teacher for the last 28 years. ``But this will be a once-in-a-lifetime experience for many of these students. Some will probably never be able to go on another trip like this in their lives. It's extra work for me, yes, but it will be worth it. It's something I've always wanted to do for my students . . . as an extension of the classroom.''
Financially, the cost of the trip, at $389 a person, is well beyond the means of many. But in her typically determined fashion, Peoples has figured a way for families to raise the money.
She has developed three major fund-raising events. At different times during the school year, her students and their parents will sell candy, ``value'' checks for discounted merchandise and punch cards for deals at restaurants and stores.
In case some families are unable to raise the funds, Peoples also is trying to secure sponsorships from local businesses.
``Some of the parents could afford to hand their children the money right now,'' Peoples conceded. ``But we've asked them not to do that. The children need to earn it by doing chores around the house or in other ways. Therefore, they'll appreciate the trip even more because they know they've earned it.''
Actually, these 10- and 11-year-olds will earn their trip twice - once at home and, again, in the classroom.
Over the next few months, students can earn ``behavior bucks'' through the teacher's ``Peoples and Chance Bank'' by doing special projects, turning in their homework on time, getting on the honor roll, reading extra books or keeping an organized desk. But they get penalized for the negative: poor self-control, lack of respect, failure to do their classwork or breaking classroom rules. The most severe infraction, fighting, carries an automatic $5 fine.
Just as the students need to raise real cash, they need to accumulate $389 in behavior money to go on the trip.
Eleven-year-old Mark Adcock of Winona says earning the money twice is tough.
``I'm kind of worried about the behavior dollars, but I'm getting better,'' he said candidly. ``I talk a lot.
``But I'm not so worried about the other money. I've asked everybody in my family to give me money for Christmas so I can go.''
``I'm really excited about the trip,'' added Verneisha Morrow, an honor-roll student who already had racked up more than $50 in behavior bucks by October. ``It sounds like so much fun.''
One reason the students are already so enthusiastic about the trip is that they're getting daily travelogues from their teacher during math, social studies, English and science lessons.
``I try to get the trip into the Norfolk schools' curriculum any way I can,'' Peoples said.
Incorporating it into social studies is easy, since fifth-graders normally study American history anyway. But Peoples also has found ways to include it in other subjects. In math, for example, students have learned to figure out how long it will take them to walk from the White House to the Capitol. In science, they've studied the plants and animals of D.C., New York and Pennsylvania. They've read books about George Washington and Benjamin Franklin, written reports on the Liberty Bell, and researched the origin of the Statue of Liberty for English.
They've also learned to develop film and operate video cameras so they can chronicle their trip with photographic essays upon their return.
A strict disciplinarian, Peoples has even scheduled an expert on etiquette to lecture to her students.
``I want them all to know how to sit and eat properly when they go out to eat during this trip,'' Peoples stressed.
She's determined each student will be able to go on the trip. To ensure their success, both in the classroom and in fund-raising, a parent chaperon is assigned to monitor and help each child.
``These parents are really getting to know these children,'' she explained. ``Now, we've become like a family working together to accomplish our goal on this trip.''
Valerie Gregory, one of the parents who is going on the trip, noted: ``When she first told me about this idea, I thought it was going to be hard to get the parents involved and to raise the money. But she did.
``She's just a very committed teacher. She's giving up her vacation to take these kids on this trip. It's so fantastic, but she does this kind of thing all the time. We're lucky to have her.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by RICHARD L. DUNSTON
Sarah Peoples is taking her fifth-grade class on a five-day trip in
April.
Staff photo by JOSEPH JOHN KOTLOWSKI
Peoples' students are studying about the places they'll visit.
by CNB