826LA’s most popular field trip is objectively the strangest. Storytelling & Bookmaking takes a class on a journey to a failing publishing house run by the eponymous couple, Mr. and Mrs. Barnacle. The Barnacles are polar opposites; one is always a cantankerous, kid-adversed recluse, the other an extroverted adventurer. Neither is ever seen, only one (the curmudgeon) is heard.
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Go inside the Field Trip.
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Mr. and Mrs. Barnacle explains to the students that the publishing house is failing and hasn’t had a best selling book in around 70 years. The students are told that the publishing house is on the edge of disaster and that the field-trip leader and his team will be fired by the end of the day. Then they save the latter’s jobs with their writing, and save the publishing house for good measure. The students are then given the task of writing the needed number bestsellers to save the publishers and keep the Field Trip team’s jobs — if only for just one more day. Their employment is always tenuous.
It’s easy to forget how weird this set-up is when you’re in the program. Many Field Trips employ role-playing, edutainment aspects, but ours is unique among them. We’re like a Medieval Times theme park that transports students to a failing publishing house. 826La talks more about intellectual property than sword fighting. We both have time travel components though.
In my last few field trips however, I started to really think about the Field Trip structure. The set-up adds power and immediacy to the lessons we are trying to teach the students.
Where the adults have failed, students succeed with their ideas. The Field Trip’s story tells them their ideas do matter — that they can actually change the world and circumstances around them.
[/ezcol_3quarter_end]I questioned the firing of the Field Trip leader and volunteers. This could be too much pressure for students. I quickly realized that the stakes were correct. Students are faced with a real life situation — a whole team’s jobs are on the line — and solve it with the strength of their ideas. The stakes are close to earth. Anyone who is employed, has been employed, or knows someone who is employed understands the concept of being fired. With such relatable yet high stakes, the students learn that their ideas can change the world around them immediately. Their ideas are needed in everyday issues.
826LA is unique for many reasons, but having worked on my fair share of these field trips, Storytelling and Bookmaking is one of its most unique aspects. I think it’s notable that it doesn’t include any violence; we believe that students can be sustained with creativity and discussion rather than just action.
With a bizarre set-up yet grounded stakes, our Storytelling & Bookmaking Field Trip teaches students that their ideas are valuable, important, and powerful in situations they may actually encounter. This, more than any other lesson on character development, setting, or plot, is the one that will keep students writing. It’s the one that is vital to learn.
William Higgins is a student and maybe a writer. He enjoys reading, writing, and running — the three “Rs.” In the fall he will moving to Ireland to study law. He loves working at 826LA in the Field Trips program and looks forward to helping kids write every day.