School trips touted as part of return to ‘normalcy’

SHELBY — As Shelby City Schools continue navigating through the pandemic era, out-of-town learning opportunities are on the comeback when it comes to the district.

The Board of Education at its July 15 meeting approved plans for the Shelby Middle School sixth-grade trip to Camp Nuhop in Perrysville, Ohio. The visit is scheduled for Sept. 29, 2021 through Oct. 1, 2021.

In addition, the board OK’D plans for the Shelby Middle School eighthgrade trip to Washington, D.C. and Gettysburg, Pa., a trip scheduled for May 9 through May 12 of 2022.

Shelby Schools Superintendent Tim Tarvin spoke of the trips in the context of “us trying to return to some normalcy with regard to field trips.”

“I think everybody’s got their fingers crossed that we get the year started with that sense of normalcy and continue it,” he said.

“There’s many conversations going on throughout school districts, throughout the state of Ohio, throughout the United States with regard to ‘What’s this school year going to look like?’” Tarvin said.

“Our hope is, our intention is to start it in a more traditional, typical perspective with the idea that if we have to pivot, go in a different direction, be flexible, we will, just like we’ve done for the last 18 months,” Tarvin added.

The coronavirus pandemic, which took hold in March 2020, not only closed school buildings around Ohio at the time but also led to the cancellation of such trips due to health restrictions. Such trips now are being added to planning calendars.

At the July 15 meeting, Tarvin mentioned that “a big part of our kids’ learning” involves trips,

“whether it’s band trip to Florida or choir trip to New York City or eightgraders going to D.C.”

“I’ve always appreciated that our board and Shelby, Ohio for years has valued those out-of-classroom experiences,” Tarvin said. “You guys are cognizant of kids can make a lot of growth and really do some really neat things that they would never get the opportunity to do if we didn’t provide those for them as a school district.”

Tarvin said the trips to Washington, D.C. date back about 15 years, for example.

Shelby School Board President Lorie White expressed thanks. “We appreciate the teachers who are willing to coordinate those things,” she said. People think it’s a vacation for them. It’s not. You’re trying to wrangle a couple hundred kids, parents. It’s a lot of pressure, really.”

“We appreciate their willingness to give our kids those experiences,” White added. “I think it’s amazing what our kids have the opportunity to do.”

Aug. 17 is the first day of school for students in the Shelby district where full in-school learning is planned for the 2021-22