Crossland Construction Field Trip
by Debbie Restivo
May 20, 2008
The 5th graders traveled to Cathage, Mo., to check out the Carthage High School building project courtesy of USD 249 and Crossland Construction.
Students were given a field trip notes sheet from the Crossland Construction Education Department. They were to check off the specific items they saw during the trip (e.g. PPE Item, steel beam, hammer, rebar cap, ripping bar, blueprints, welder's hood, excavator, grinder, and scissor lift).
They were to give examples of simple machines they saw in use on the job site (e.g. pulley, wedge, lever, wheel/axle, inclined plane, and screw).
When we returned to the classroom, we even completed some construction math in area, perimeter, and conversions.
Finally, students were encouraged to write a letter describing their experience.
Here are a few quotes from those letters:
Zack wrote, "I really liked the tour, if I had a chance to join Crossland, I would."
Corine wrote, "I noticed how well your workers were working together and not getting frustrated at each other every 5 seconds."
In her letter, Clarrissa asked Crossland to, "please invite us to come again soon, because it was so fun." Mrs. Deplue, Mrs. Peterson, Mrs. Oehme, Mrs. Restivo
Louis wrote specifically to Brandon Brill, Crossland Education Coordinator, and told him, "...you have inspired me to be a construction worker."
Maggie thanked Crossland, "I would like to thank you for letting us come to the job site and for lunch. I hope that the Carthage High School is a success!"
Cora wrote, "I hope that you guys all stay safe and thanks for letting us wear the hard hats."
Maddie stated that, "I have learned so many things after that trip. I liked how the people kept on task and did what they were supposed to do. Another thing I liked was how you guys took your time to teach us stuff we didn't know. If there was a scale from one-to-ten, I would give you guys a ten for all your hard work and what you taught us!"
In his letter, Trey wrote, "Crossland was my favorite field trip this year. It was really cool. Thank you for the awesome tour."
Aubri said, "I want to thank you for giving me a chance to see what a real construction site looks like. I have never seen one up close before. My fifth grade friends and I loved it."
Molly wrote, "The safety regulations you guys have are very incredible to learn from. Construction working seems like a very hard job, but I know you guys are making a lot of students happy to have an extraordinary school."
The tour of this job site really got some 5th graders thinking. Brody wrote that he really liked this field trip because he got to learn a lot about construction. He said that, "...I thought twice about what job I wanted when I grow up because of all the fun I had today."
Hunter wrote, "I really loved going on this field trip because I have never got to wear a real hard hat."
That goes for me too! I've never been on a construction site like this before OR worn a hard hat... ever.
Since we have been focusing on "going green" lately in SFA, Jason had a question for Crossland. He asked, "What is the "green" equipment that was used on the building? By green, I mean eco-friendly equipment." (Teacher's note: Aren't our fifth graders just too smart for words?)
Thanks so much Crossland Construction! You make a difference in the lives of our kids by offering them such positive experiences. Keep up the GREAT work!
