More than 48,000 Dallas Independent School District students will experience the same science, technology, engineering and math field trips this semester – something the district says has never happened before.
Using a $250,000 grant from Lyda Hill Philanthropies, DISD is sending every 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th and 7th grader — districtwide — on the same age-and-curriculum appropriate field trips, intending to garner the same benefits for every student.
On a recent cloudy morning, it was 582 4th graders’ turn – they were bused to the Dallas Arboretum for a visit.
The kids were well prepared. When a group from Leila P. Cowart Elementary approached meat-eating plants, many already know about the sundews & pitcher plants Arboretum teacher Katie Williams had in pots.
“Does anyone know what this is called?” she asked the group of a dozen or so students
“Venus Flytrap,” they yelled. “Right!” replied Williams.
One student wondered if it could trap mosquitoes. “It can trap mosquitoes,” said Williams. “It can trap insects, mostly.”
Another student asked, “Do you put your finger…?”
Before she could finish the question, Williams told her no.
“I wouldn’t put your finger in there,” she said, “because it has this nectar stuff that might irritate your skin.”
Today’s group may be average-sized by the Arboretum’s daily-visit standards, but over the course of the semester, every Dallas ISD fourth grader – that’s more than 10,200 kids - will visit here. That’s not average, said Dallas ISD’s Deputy Chief of Academic Services Michele Broughton, who helped orchestrate these trips focused on science, technology, engineering and math.
“STEM is the way of our world,” Broughton said. “We have a responsibility to prepare students and really to expose them to STEM opportunities. ... What we want is for what students are learning in the classroom to stick.”
Broughton hopes to reach that goal by tying lessons learned on these field trips to those taught in class.
It’s part of the district’s wider goal of unifying curriculum across all of its schools — with its many resources.
Until now, though, some students haven’t been able to visit the Arboretum. For many of these 4th graders, it’s their first time here. Margaret Black was instrumental in helping to make it happen.
“I think you have to hope that you're in the right ZIP code at the right school with the right classroom leader that happens to have chaperones and all of those things aligned for you,” said Lyda Hill Philanthropies managing director Margaret Hill. “And it was just not happening in an equitable way.”
The nonprofit’s grant made this single semester pilot possible, sending 48,000 Dallas ISD elementary kids to places like the Arboretum, the zoo or the Perot Museum.
“We believe science is the answer to solving the most complex problems in this world,” Black said. ”And we need the next generation solving those problems.”
When the semester ends, Michele Broughton said the district will study the results – to see if the material actually IS sticking.
“This is a pilot,” said Broughton. “We just started it at the top of the semester and so we hope or anticipate that student outcomes will improve. But we have yet to determine that.”
Back at the Arboretum, some students have just approached the station about geophytes, including bulbs and tubers.
Salazar 4th grader Megan Rodezno knew a little about the plants, which include potatoes.
“I learned the nutrients they have, and how they grow,” she said. “I like them because they give good nutrients and they taste good.”
If educators get their way, she and her fellow 4th graders will also develop a deeper taste for learning about science.
Bill Zeeble is KERA’s education reporter. Got a tip? Email Bill at bzeeble@kera.org. You can follow him on X @bzeeble.
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