Never too old for a field trip

5. Adults need field trips too

When the tour guides at the Legislative Building and Executive Mansion quizzed the students on state facts (Ex. What’s the state motto? What’s a bill?), thankfully I knew most of the answers. But there were some questions that made me think, “Man, I hope the guide doesn’t call on me.”

I can make an argument that adults need field trips even more than kids. There’s so much to learn about the world, whether it’s history, science or government, and we could all use refresher courses.

4. Evolution of Raleigh

I remember the first time I was fascinated by a tall building. No, I don’t think it was the Henderson clocktower. I remember staring up at one of the buildings in downtown Raleigh as a kid, most likely on a field trip to one of the downtown museums. The population of Raleigh, not including surrounding areas, has doubled since my elementary days. It hasn’t moved at at the pace of Charlotte’s, but the state capital skyline has grown steadily along with the city’s population. In some ways, it feels like a whole new place, but it’s nice to know the field trips still feel the same.

3. Whales

A massive sperm whale skeleton, recovered at Wrightsville Beach, has been hanging in the science museum since the 1930s, so I know most native North Carolinians from the Triangle and surrounding counties have probably seen it at least once. But man is it worth it to be reminded how gigantic those creatures can be. This whale is 54 feet long, and weighed 100,000 pounds in it day. Just imagine what the first seafaring humans must have thought when encountering something like that in the middle of the ocean.

2. Timing

Of all the days to tour the Legislative Building, we were there the morning after the North Carolina House of Representatives passed a 12-week abortion ban. The Senate was in session while we were getting our tour and approved the legislation later that day.

Ever the person to soak in a moment, my eyes and ears oscillated between the tour guide on my left asking the students if they knew how many state senators North Carolina has, and the TV news reporters to my right setting up their live shots outside the Senate chamber for the noon news. The buzz was palpable. To my left: innocuous tour tidbits. To my right: a demonstrator walking down the steep Legislative Building steps wearing a shirt that read “Someone who had an abortion.”

I hope the parents that were on hand will remind their children in the future that was no ordinary day for a tour.

Elite company

1. There are more than 5,000 students in the Vance County Schools system, but only 16 received Spotlight recognition for 2022-23. Some of the honorees’ parents left their home countries in order to give their children better lives, while other students have overcome varying, immense challenges to become role models for their peers. The best part of last week’s trip was knowing the students earned it.