K-3 Field Day: A Service Learning Project
for Middle School Students

by Evvie Jakub, Physical Education Instructor, GCS

Field Days for elementary students have been a traditional event for the end of the year celebrations for many years at many elementary schools. At Guilford Central School, this annual event has become a popular service learning activity for our Middle School students. Each year this special occasion embraces more and more of the essential elements of service learning. It has evolved through yearly evaluation, assessment and reflection to be an activity which incorporates many of the best practices for service learning and continues to grow towards becoming a service learning model.

For many years, as the Physical Education teacher, I planned and organized the Annual Field Day for the students in Kindergarten through third grade myself. As my school began to experiment with service learning programs I thought this was a great opportunity to let older students work with younger students. I targeted the seventh graders at my school to run the various events at Field Day. This seemed to provide an opportunity for the seventh grade to take over and step up to the challenge of being the new “oldest” students at school and begin to display their leadership skills. The Field Day was planned to coincide with the Eighth Grade Class Trip at the end of the year. The seventh grade would officially take over the responsibility of being teachers, role models and mentors to the youngest students at our school by running the various Field Day events. In addition, parents were invited to join in on the fun as group leaders who would take small groups from event to event. Primary teachers would now be free to observe their students, step in and help out with students who needed one on one attention and to assist with any injuries or emergencies. Middle School teachers would help supervise and assist the seventh graders as they presented the activity they were assigned to each of the small groups moving from station to station.

In the early days of Field Day I planned and organized the entire field day which was held at the Guilford Fair Grounds. As the plans for Field Day became more elaborate each year and required more equipment I realized I needed help. I asked for volunteers from the seventh grade class to pack up all the equipment that would be needed for field day during their recess and study hall that coincided with my lunch break. These same students were excused from classes early the day of field day to then pack the trucks that carried the equipment to the fair grounds and to help set up each event. Later in the morning the remaining seventh graders would leave with the primary students to come by bus and begin the fun activities of Field Day. In advance, seventh graders had the opportunity to sign up for the event they would like to run and time was also set aside to go over their role and behavior expectations in this setting.

The rule of thumb for planning each field day was to bring back the two most popular events from the previous year and then add eight new events. I continued to collect ideas from my colleagues, but soon realized that my middle school students had lots of fresh ideas. So, the seventh graders who worked at field day would now have the opportunity as eighth graders to volunteer to be part of the K-3 Field Day Planning Committee which would begin planning once a week during their recess and study events for the following field day in early April. They brought a new understanding of what worked and what was fun for kindergarten through third grade students as well as the seventh grade students. They were also aware of the capabilities of the younger students. In addition, they knew what would be boring for the seventh graders.

The first group of eighth grade planners realized they were not planning for themselves as much as they were planning for the younger students. As a result, they designed a sheet with questions about field day activities and then volunteered to visit the first through third grade classrooms to ask the younger students what they liked best about field day and to see if they had any ideas for the committee. The discussions moved along well by following the questions they had designed and bringing a large poster collage of the previous field day for the students to look at. They enjoyed their classroom visits and came away with a better idea of what the little ones liked and why they liked it. At the next meeting, the students would share their feedback from the younger students and use that information to plan for the upcoming event. Each year I find that the middle school students take on more of a role in how the entire field day will be planned. They are full partners in the planning of more than just the events now. A decision was made by the committee that seventh graders should be invited to be part of the committee so it would consist of both new and experienced members. This would make each committee stronger each year. I am now just another member of the committee and only when necessary assume the role of facilitator.

As Service Learning activities became part of the culture of our school I found that the students themselves began to draw upon their own knowledge of the essential elements of service learning that would be helpful in making Field Day a success. The students wanted reflective and assessment pieces from the people who participated in Field Day. It was no longer enough to just meet once after Field Day with the committee and to discuss what went well and what needed improvement. They designed reflection sheets that would be given out to collect feedback data from the third grade students, the seventh grade students, the field day committee, the alumni, the school staff, the parents. The students also began to realize that certain unforeseen circumstances can actually move a project ahead and make it better after it is reflected upon. For example, last year the eighth grade class trip date was changed. Suddenly - the eighth grade would be present at school when field day would take place. The committee decided that the seventh grade only would run the field day events but in addition the eighth graders who were on the Field Day Committee only would also come. After field day when the committee met to review the day, they believed that the date for field day should be changed for next year to ensure that the eighth graders on the committee were able to participate in the event. It was very important to them that every member of the committee see how what they planned turned out through first hand experience. As a result, field day this year was purposefully planned away from the date of the eighth grade class trip so all members of the committee would be present for the event
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The reflection sheets of the previous year now drive the agenda of the first meeting of the year which now starts in early March. Students share the responsibility of recording on large sheets of poster paper the results of the data collected from the previous year. To keep the group focused the sheets record such items as: What do you like best about field day? What were your favorite events? What one thing would you change? What one thing would you keep the same? What impressed you most? What did you do at Field Day? Data is coded so it is easy to tell who is giving the feedback. This data helps to set the tone for what type of day they will try to plan. It amazed me that the students wanted to keep on file the third grade responses so that those students could review their own responses when they were in seventh grade and planning this event for younger students. They felt it would help bring them back to what it was like to be a third grader. As a result, the third grade reflection sheets are marked and filed away to be used again for future reference in the years to come. The students are totally involved in both preparation and reflection. The dates are put on a chart for each day the committee will meet before the annual Field Day. Each date is filled in with discussion topics and action that must be taken. This is an ongoing process as the committee meets. Students volunteer to fill a variety of roles while serving on the committee such as: poster note taker, minutes secretary, discussion leader, resource finder, phone caller. Students share the responsibility of many roles. For instance, students sign up on the large posters to lead the discussion for various topics of interest to them such as event brainstorming. Another student may choose to lead a discussion on refining or redesigning the reflection sheets. Some students may choose to write thank you notes while others choose to inventory the field day equipment. The agenda for the first meeting begins with establishing a calendar of what preparations need to be done throughout the spring to make field day happen and the agenda for the final meeting ends with reflection of the committee’s work and the field day itself.

Another important piece of Field Day is to have the efforts of the Field Day Committee recognized by their peers and the greater community. There are many ways that this has been done. Each year I make a poster collage of photos that are taken at field day. These collages are displayed in the cafeteria as field day is approaching in June. In a prominent place on the poster is a photo of the Field Day Committee of that year with all of their names listed. Another way that the students are recognized is at the conclusion of Field Day. All seventh graders are given a certificate for their leadership in running an event and the Field Day committee is given a certificate to recognize the work they have done over time to make this event happen. All School Meeting is also another opportunity for the entire school to thank and recognize the Field Day committee for their efforts. In addition, a word of thanks is included in the weekly school newsletter. The Guilford Gazette also provides another avenue for the greater community to appreciate an explanation of Field Day and the planning that a group of students has done to provide an event that is enjoyed by primary students, middle school students, alumni, staff, parents and community members. The web site for our school is also an area that the Field Day Committee has begun to explore to document this event and recognize those who work very hard to see that it is a great time for all involved.

Field Day has evolved over the years to be recognized as an important school tradition. The entire school is aware of the fact that Field Day will be taking place in June. Field Day is understood, valued and supported as an integral element of the school. Schedule changes are made in the regular school schedule - all Physical Education classes are canceled, primary and seventh grade classes are adjusted to the field day schedule. The principal frees up his schedule to be present and actively involved in helping seventh grade run events. The middle school staff divides up the responsibility of supervising the seventh graders and playing softball with them after the activities are done while maintaining classes for the eighth graders which requires a total scheduling change for that single day. Maintenance and lunchroom staff as well as school bus drivers adjust their days to accommodate the changes field day dictates. Students who are on the Field Day Committee are often excused from Middle School classes if possible as the deadlines for field day near and time is needed to complete important tasks. The entire school seems to be flexible when needed so that Field Day will be a success. Parents clear their schedules and take time off from work to be present to help out at field day whether it be to cut up watermelons, fill water balloons or travel with a group of children from event to event. Alumni arrange for time off from studies at the high school to come and help out with Field Day. Some use this day to help fulfill their Community Service requirement at the high school and others just come to help out and have fun. This event has become a very important one in the life of our school. It is a tradition.

Field Day connects school and community in new and positive ways in Guilford. The excitement of Field Day for both students, staff and parents is supported by the large number of people who come out to support this day and make it very special. All come to the Fair Grounds to enjoy the fun and appreciate the special site where it takes place. It links together those who are the care takers of the grounds to the Middle School students. The students often find they have suggestions for improvement that they think may be worthy of passing along to the Guilford Fair Committee which forms a connection between the Guilford Central School and the Guilford Fair Committee. In addition, it helps all students to realize the roots they have in Guilford with the Fair Grounds. It becomes a place that can be used for more than just the Guilford Fair. They learn from the older boys that this is also a place where they have their baseball games. The Fair Grounds is an important land mark in Guilford. By leaving the Fair Grounds as we find it by being sure that all trash is taken away the students learn that we have a responsibility to help keep this in good condition for all residents of Guilford. As one student mentioned, by using the fair grounds for field day and baseball games they have an investment in seeing that vandalism does not occur there because it is an important place to them as well as to the older residents of the town. It is an area they are proud of and want to use. In the future this may be an area where the Field Day Committee may be able to make a meaningful contribution to the community by following through on undertaking one of their improvement ideas themselves. This could actually be accomplished on our annual Service Day in May when students spread across the school and town property to make significant contributions to the improvement of our community. This is one of those areas that will evolve over the next few years.

Field Day Committee members have the opportunity to learn new skills, think critically, and test new roles. Serving on the Field Day Committee gives the students a chance to learn and practice a variety of new skills. Organizational skills are very important in seeing that an event actually takes place. An example of organizing field day was setting deadlines for a variety of things that needed to happen before the big day such as sending notices home for donations of materials such as cups, water balloons; lending equipment such as garden hoses; donations of money to buy equipment; donations of time to help out with watermelon preparation and clean up, filling water balloons, traveling with small groups of children. The responses from these notices needed to be gone through by members of the committee and parents notified as to when the variety of goods and services were needed by. Also, the committee assigned primary teachers to be responsible for a variety of tasks such as providing water to drink, trash pick up and group assignments of primary students that mixed kindergarten through third grade students into sixteen small groups. In past years, many of these tasks were not done by the students on the committee. Each year as I sat down to review, reflect and assess what had happened I realized that many of the things I did could be delegated to the students.

Challenges would inevitably arise each year that the committee would have to deal with that would force them to think in a critical way. This particular year the Guilford Fair Grounds were unavailable to us do to the fact that renovations were taking place there and would not be completed in time for the day of the event. This news reached the committee after the bulk of the planning had been done for field day. It was necessary for the committee to brain storm ideas for an alternate site that they might have the event take place at. After much thought and research into alternative sites they agreed as a group that for this year it would be best to have the field day on one of the fields at school. This decision was arrived at after lengthy discussion and calls on the phone to other areas that might have been suitable over a period of three weeks. The fact that the event would now be held in a different place meant that events that had already been decided upon were no longer appropriate due to the location and new events needed to be designed that fit the new field we would use for field day. Students also had the opportunity to test new roles as they made their plans. It was necessary to come up with new sources of water to run the favorite field day events. Two students were assigned the task of finding out where water was available and if it could be used as well as how much hose would be required to access the water. It was necessary for the students to approach the Town Clerk to see if it was possible to use water from the town offices. Students also needed to talk to a variety of staff in the building to ensure that certain things would happen. Other roles were taken on by other students as it was necessary to talk to the librarian to find out who in the Middle School was trained to use the camcorder so that the Field Day Event could be recorded. It was necessary to talk to one of the coordinators of the Guilford Gazette to find out who in the Middle School was trained to use the digital camera so that the Field Day Event could be photographed and scanned into the computer to be used on the Physical Education section of the Guilford Central School web site. Another group of students were assigned the task of explaining each event that the Middle School students could sign up to run, have the students sign up and also explain what the expectations for running their event as well as their behavior would be on the day of field day. The Field Day Committee also came up with the idea that at the time students would be signing up for events that this would be a good time to show the video tape of when the current seventh and eighth graders were participating in field day as primary students so that it would help them remember what it was like to be in the lower grades and how much they had looked forward to this event. It also gave them a chance to observe the older students who ran field day for them when they were little in the role they would now assume. Viewing the video has been both fun and informative for the Middle Schoolers as a way to bring them up to speed as to what the day entails for them.

The students who serve on the Field Day Committee know right from the beginning that the last time we meet we will reflect and assess Field Day. Time is set aside during meeting to develop systematic assessment procedures. Reflections sheets have become the main tool used to gather input from all those who participate and are categorized as: 3rd grade, 7th grade, field day committee members, alumni, staff and parents. A separate sheet is also kept as an ongoing record of what students feel that they want to reflect and evaluate at the end of the year such as: Do we want to do more than we did? Did we have to do too much? At the last meeting the students attempt to answer these questions that they have formed over the weeks of planning. The results of these assessment pieces are used to drive the improvements for the next year. After discussing the various assessments the committee ultimately makes decisions. It is very rarely that it is necessary for me to step in and over ride what we as a group have decided. The gathering of ideas from such a broad range of people helps guide and make responsible decisions that are carefully thought out and benefit the majority.

I find that I provide the skilled adult guidance and supervision for this committee. As the years go by and the entire field day project develops more and more by including more of the essential items of service learning activities I find that I am able to step back away from being their guide. They come to their own conclusions about which adults in the building or in the community are the ones they need to speak with so they can become more fully informed and knowledgeable to make decisions. They are the ones who are now beginning to seek the assistance of adults in the active roles they feel that they need an adult. For instance, it seemed a tradition that the seventh grade always played softball at the conclusion of field day after the younger students returned to school. This year they decided that many students would also enjoy a game of Capture the Flag in addition to Softball. They wanted to plan the afternoon for the seventh grade. Yet, they felt they wanted an adult to be in charge of the plans they had made. I am unavailable as I bring equipment back to school and return items borrowed from other schools. So, they have taken it upon themselves to contract the services of one of the other teachers in the building to take over the implementation of what they had planned. The committee takes this a step further by trying to be sure that the school staff that will be involved in Field Day have the tools, information and assistance necessary to help make this a meaningful service learning experience for the middle school students and the parent volunteers. Through a variety of methods such as notes to specific teachers, notes to the staff in staff notes and assignment of a variety responsibilities to various teachers for field day in the middle school and primary grades the committee does an excellent job of keeping the adults informed and knowledgeable about the day’s events. It was interesting that this year the students felt I should do a quick training session with the adults who would travel from station to station with a small group of children. Even though each parent in the past has been given written information on how to proceed with their group the day of field day they wanted me to meet with them the morning of field day prior to when they would meet the children in their group. It would be my job to explain what their role was, when they would change from station to station and to quickly explain each event to them. This was a change they made based on one of the parent’s reflection sheets from the year before. It was important to them that all the adults were to know exactly what their role was and how they would carry out their assignment just like the middle school students were all to know what their job was.

The connections between academic learning and service possibilities are endless with the Field Day project for Middle School students. This is an area that needs special attention as I look ahead to refining this service learning activity and striving to incorporate all of the Best Practices of Service Learning. This is one area that I have been very lax in and yet I know that lots of learning is taking place. I just need to take the time to go through the standards and document what the students are doing. I know this project includes the standards from many areas that include Personal Development, Reasoning and Problem Solving and Civic and Social Responsibility. Perhaps I need to start earlier with my committee to tease out some of the standards the students would like to be sure they will meet next year. I need to give this area some thought as to how I will address this important element.

The creation of the Field Day Committee started out as just a good idea to lend me the extra hands that I needed to make something happen more easily for our primary students. Through constant reflection, evaluation and brainstorming of ideas it has moved forward to incorporate many of the best practices of service learning. The level that this particular activity is at has happened over many years. It is a living and growing project. After the final assessment and reflection meeting I have with my students at the end of the year I sit down myself and go over the Best Practices for Service Learning. By reviewing these Practices I am able to see the areas that still have plenty of room for growth or inclusion in this particular project that I am committed to. I then am able to think about how I can incorporate new ideas for neglected elements into next year’s plan. With constant review of the Best Practices for Service Learning I am able each year to improve this project and make it more meaningful for my students and myself. There is certainly much to be said for the growth of anything worthwhile over time. This is just one of many projects that can start just with a small need and grow into a very sophisticated service learning activity. It reinforces the idea that you can start anywhere with essential elements and move ahead. To make it better all you need to do is allow time for assessment, reflection and the development of an action plan to make changes so the activity can grow into something very special and unique as you slowly incorporate each of the Best Practices striving to reach excellence.