I was inspired. At least that’s what I told myself. I volunteered to be the field trip coordinator for our grade level for the year. No more staying in our little community and taking kids places they went all the time anyway. I wanted to broaden their horizons. Open their eyes to new places. At least that’s what I told myself. Plus, planning 4 field trips for the year seemed like less work than some of the other extra “opportunities” for teachers which were on the “volunteer” list. I’m a planner by nature so I signed my name.

I thought, what better field trip at Christmastime than to go to the Fox Theater and see the Nutcracker. They have a special ‘field trip’ version of the show. It has fewer scenes so it is shorter, and they show behind the scenes magic, like how they make it snow and how they change sets so quickly. It would create memories and be a holiday treat like they had never seen before! It was perfect!

So, after reserving the buses, reserving the seats at the Fox, collecting the permission slips for weeks ahead of time, collecting the money, paying the money, ordering the lunches, adjusting all the numbers the day of based on who actually showed up, we were ready to go. (This volunteer position involved much more work than I had anticipated!) We loaded up 7 buses and headed to the big city, just a few hundred 3^rd graders, their teachers, and a lead bus driver with a print out of directions from MapQuest. What could go wrong? Turns out quite a bit, when you are using MapQuest directions.

One thing elementary teachers have always known, long before Elf the movie, is the best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear. Right? So, we sang. And we sang. And we sang. Singing was the best way to pass the time and distract kids from questionable meandering routes. That is, until we got to the tall building. The first one they noticed was at Century Center off of I-85. One student cried out in awe, “Look at that skyscraper!” All the others chimed in with ooos and ahhs.

At that moment, I knew it was going be an eye-opening day for all of us. Back at that time, there was a total of one building at Century Center and it was about 7 stories tall, but the kids’ eyes were like saucers. This took me by surprise, but I realized, we don’t have tall buildings in our county and many of my students had never been south of the county line.  

With the skyscraper sighting, the questions rang out, “Are we there yet? Is this Atlanta? When do we get off the bus? Can we go up in that tall building?”

“Just wait,” I said, “It gets much better.”

I love our small-town bus drivers, but you could not pay me to do their job. They are part drill sergeant and part mama/papa bear. They rise at ungodly hours and drive bumpy backroads in the dark to pick up children who do not want to go to school. They keep order, while smiling and being the first face of the day that most kids see. They can make or break a child’s day in one moment, and they know it. They take their jobs seriously and they are good at them. In the afternoon, they repeat the whole process backwards.

Our bus drivers are the best, however, when going to Atlanta for field trips there is a 99.9% chance there will be a wrong turn or two. At least that was true back in the MapQuest days. I learned, as field trip coordinator, to allow getting-lost-time in our schedule. Having been raised in Atlanta, I never quite understood how we could not find the Fox Theater. It’s on Peachtree Street of course. Right downtown. How in the world could we miss it? But we did.

I was sitting next to a boy with his nose glued to the window as we passed our exit. His head was tilted back a bit to see the top of all the buildings towering over us. He was stunned into silence. He had never seen anything like this cityscape. In fact, in that moment, I noticed the bus had gone quiet. One turn of my head and I saw a repeat of what was happening to my seatmate all over the bus. Wide eyes. Faces pressed to the windows to try to see the tops of the buildings. Would you look at that? Wonder personified.

My seatmate asked me, “Ms. Gunnin, what do you have to do to live up there?” he pointed to the top floor of the tallest building. “I’m going to live there one day with my Papaw.” His window was fogging up with his breath he was so close, eyes glued to the tiny little windows in the building above him. My eyes teared up because I knew his circumstances. His was a hard life, addicted parents, one in jail and the other never present. His Papaw was his whole world. I didn’t tell him it was an office building because I didn’t want to crush his hope. He had never seen anything like that skyscraper, but it gave him something to dream about. He smiled, “Yep, I’m gonna live there someday.”

As we went through the Midtown underpasses trying to find a place to exit 7 buses and turn them around, a kid yelled out, “Tunnel!” and threw his hands in the air. In a moment, all the kids on the bus were screaming and had their hands in the air. It was our own roller coaster moment. I didn’t have the heart to tell them it wasn’t a tunnel. The good news for us all was that there was more than one bridge. So, we got multiple chances to raise our hands and cheer, then even more when we went back through them headed back to find our exit…two more times! A total of 8 tunnel crossings before we were back on the MapQuest track. If we had never gotten to the Fox the kids would have been content to drive under bridges and beside skyscrapers all day.

We were late to the show. We were directed to pull to the side entrance of the Fox. We unloaded and counted there on the sidewalk. Fieldtrips involve lots of counting. I noticed all the passersby were looking up. I couldn’t figure out what they were looking at, until I saw our kiddos. They were gob smacked. No hiding their amazement, to be standing right next to a skyscraper. They were still as stones. Heads thrown all the way back, looking up. The business men and women were surprised to see a Stonehenge of hundreds of third graders. It drew their own eyes upward. Post 9-11, they were expecting to see planes perhaps; everyone was still on edge. I explained to those within earshot, “Nothing is happening, the kids just haven’t ever seen tall buildings up close before.”

It was difficult to get the children to move from their spots, but the show was waiting on us to be seated. When we rushed into the theater, ours were the only empty seats left. An entire theater full of school children cheered for us as we made our way to our spots. Our kids felt like superstars. Once we were settled, their heads were all looking up again. (Quite a neck workout they were getting.) This time at the stars in the ceiling of the Fox. The ornate building feels like you are under the night sky. We got to watch sunrise and sunset with the organ playing. It was magical.

The show started. There were acrobats and ballerinas. There was music and snow…inside! I am not sure I have ever seen my students’ eyes that wide or smiles that big. There were funny parts and parts which made you feel sad and happy at the same time. The Rat Army and the Sugar Plum Fairy and the Christmas tree that grew to touch the ceiling. All of it was spectacular. All of it was explained after each scene when they pulled back the curtains to show what was happening backstage.

We misplaced one student after the show. Only one. When we were handing out lunches to eat on the bus on the way back, we had one extra. We counted. Multiple times. One kid short. That may seem like a low number, unless you are the teacher of that kid. Wild searching ensued, while all the other kids waiting. Eventually, the student was found. Amazed in the fancy bathroom taking it in as if it were another show. She rejoined the masses on the buses. All the teachers took a deep breath of relief.

On the way home, once the lunches were finished and trash collected, the chattering began. Conversations, about the grandfather clock and the Ginger Teapot lady. Everyone wanted to be either a ballerina or an acrobat. As we meandered back over the roads, the buses fell silent. Except for the little snores from sleeping children. It was an extended day field trip, meaning we got back after the regular school day was over. Parents were lined up to pick up their kids, many of whom we had to wake up to get off the buses.

I wondered if I was crazy to take on field trip coordinator. I wondered if the stress level was worth it. But then my seatmate hugged me goodbye as he took the hand of his Papaw and started telling him where they were going to live someday with the wide-eyed wonder of a child. Christmas wonder was shining out from his whole face, and I knew I did the right thing. Pass the Eggnog.  

Merry Christmas!