Grateful for Adventure: 5th Grade’s First Trip to Snake Road!

With Thanksgiving right around the corner, our 5th grade team has been thinking a lot about what we’re thankful for—and one big thing that comes to mind is our first-ever field trip to Snake Road! This year’s trip was such a special experience for our students. They got to spend the whole day outside, rotating through four exciting activities and making memories we’ll be talking about for a long time.

Our first stop was archery. Students learned how to safely handle a bow and arrow before practicing their aim at hay bale targets. It was awesome to see them really focus and encourage each other. Every time someone hit the target, there were cheers all around!

After archery, we headed over to the ropes course, which everyone had been looking forward to. Students and I learned the commands “Am I on belay?” and “May I climb?” before tackling challenges like the balance beam, swinging ladder, tire crossing, and rope walk. When we reached the end (yes, I conquered the swinging ladder!), we rang a bell to celebrate our climb. This was my favorite part to watch and be a part of—we pushed past our fears, and our classmates’ cheers could be heard a mile away!  

After enjoying a wonderful buffet lunch, we spent some time exploring nature on a beautiful hike. We explored an area around the lake, learned about the local environment, and got to see the millions of zebra mussels covering the ramps and lake equipment up close—it was fascinating!

We ended the day with the giant swing, which turned out to be a huge hit. Students were lifted high into the air and had to pull a rope to release themselves into the swing. There were big smiles, happy screams, plenty of laughter, and lots of cheering from the sidelines. (And yes, I tried it too—it was equal parts terrifying and fun!)

Overall, it was such a great day full of teamwork, courage, laughter, and learning outside the classroom. We’re so thankful that our students had this opportunity, and we’re grateful to the Snake Road staff, our chaperones, and everyone who helped make the trip possible. We’re already looking forward to the trip next year!