In high school, the focus for kids is in the classroom. They focus more on learning the conventional way rather than going out on trips and learning in the wild, like they do in elementary school.
Lakeland High School, however, gets an opportunity to take the juniors out on an educational field trip for their history class.
Every year, the junior class of Lakeland High School takes a trip towards the end of the school year to the Farragut State Park. It’s an educational opportunity to learn a little bit more about the history of the United States.
Some people don’t know that Farragut State Park was a training ground for soldiers during World War 2. An act passed by the Idaho state legislature turned the grounds into a state park in 1966, and now, the Lakeland junior class gets to visit every year to learn more about the grounds and how it was used during the war.
The majority of the junior class goes on this trip, and they miss pretty much a whole day of school because of it. The 2026 trip was on Wednesday, May 20, and the juniors were more than ready to miss a day of classes, especially since they’ve been doing state testing for the last few weeks.
The field trip had a few different activities. The juniors were split into three groups, each of which would do one of the three activities. There was a hike on one of the more popular trails that took about a half an hour. There was also a tour and scavenger hunt in the Brigg museum that the juniors turned in to get credit. In the words of Mrs. Bevacqua, field trips can only happen if there is something educational happening.
One of the more fun parts of the trip, however, was the hand-print American flag. The juniors were asked to make an American flag out of their handprints, which was something they were doing to celebrate the statewide America250 in Idaho. The activity didn’t take very long to do, but it was one of the highlights of the trip.
Stormy Lawson was especially excited for this one. She was homeschooled until eighth grade, so field trips were not something she did growing up. This was her first one, and she couldn’t wait.
Soli Landin is excited to get to spend a day outside with an excused absence from school and some extra time to study for her next big test.
“I’m excited to be walking outside for hours and having the ability to study for the ACS chemistry final,” Landin said.
Sean Elmose is also excited to be outdoors instead of in the school. He can’t wait to escape the walls of the classroom and get out into nature with an excused absence.
There is a little bit more to it, though.
Even though it is an educational field trip, every class that was missed for it is extra work the students have to do outside of school hours.
There are a few things to make up, but these three aren’t too worried about it. Elmose is already a procrastinator, so missing a day of school won’t affect him too much. Both Lawson and Landin are good at making up missed work, so an extra day off won’t mess with them anymore than it would have anyway.
“I’m already cooked, I missed all last week,” Lawson said.
Even though it might mean they fell a little behind, the juniors got to be outdoors and outside the classroom for a day, which to them is a win in an environment where class time is prioritized over going on adventures to learn.