Our first field trip!

On Monday, March 23, my class went on a field trip to the Coka Cola Factory in Monrovia. It was our first field trip as a class and we had a wonderful time.

We were greeted by one of the managers, Gabriel Johnson, who is also a Ricks graduate. Mr. Johnson had our day organized and was very welcoming to our group. He began by giving us an overview of the factory and how it operates. The students were allowed to ask questions during his presentation. Then several of the employees gave us a tour of the factory. The students were mesmerized by all of the machinery and equipment that was used to bottle the soft drinks. They asked well thought out questions and retained most of the information they were given. I was shocked by how attentive the students were during the tour and surprised by how much they learned. At the end of the tour we got to meet Rocketfeller Findley, the Regional General Manager of Coca Cola and a Ricks graduate. He was very engaging and the students loved getting to talk to him. The highlight of the day was the free soft drinks!! Bottled Coca Cola products usually sell for about 35 Liberian dollars. This is more than most students can afford, so a free soda was a huge deal. The students were not expecting to get a drink at the end of the day, so it was a big surprise when Mr. Findley offered one to everyone. They were all very appreciative.

I rode in the van with the girls on the way back to Ricks. We sang and danced to popular songs on the radio the entire way back. I had intended to stop and get ice cream for everyone, but all of the shops were either closed or out of ice cream. So, instead of ice cream we stopped at the family bakery. Everyone got pancake bread, which is the same thing as a cupcake without the icing. The students seemed to enjoy it and it was a good end to a fun day!

The best part about taking this field trip was watching the students present what they learned to the rest of the student body. Seven of my students wrote down what they learned on an index card and shared it in chapel on Wednesday morning. This was their first time to stand up in front of the school and speak in a microphone. They did a fantastic job and got a huge round of applause at the end. They were all very proud of themselves and I was a very proud teacher!