The Caves of Taulabe

For my second grade class I had them earn stars. Each day the row with the most stars earned themselves a pack of galletas or churoz. I figured there were the “bad kids” whose row would never be the one to earn the most stars and these specific kids would give up and not be tricked by the positive reinforcement. So I decided that the class as a whole would work together to earn 200 stars. Should the class reach 200 stars we would go on field trip to the Caves of Taulabe. Our school sits pretty much on top of these caves and so it seemed to be the most logical place to take them out on good behavior.

The day finally came that they earned their 200^th star. It was a pretty proud moment for me, for as I drew the last star on the board every single kid in the class jumped out of the chair cheering and running to give me a hug. They were so proud of themselves for earning all these stars, and they really did work together to earn them.

So now it was time to throw a trip together. I wrote a note to the parents telling them all about the trip and why the kids were going on this trip at all. I asked Saul to be our driver and chaperone and I taught all the kids the word for flashlight.

Tuesday, March 11^th, 2008 just after 9:00am, we left school aboard the Blue Bus with Saul and 17 children who have never been on a class field trip before. I am pretty sure they have never been so excited for any school function.

They sang “Mister Golden Sun” and “We are the Champions” all the way to the caves and when we got there the turned into perfect little angels. We hired a guide who had good child management skills and was able to draw in their attention. He told them all about the formations in the caves, stalactites and stalagmites, bats and bat guano, and about a man from the US who came to Honduras to bury 200 million dollars in the caves. The kids of course went on a search for buried treasure and by the end of the tour it was rumored that the new kid, Jose, had found the money.

Saul was also a huge help. Not only did he serve as my translator, he held the hands of the kids who were scared and totally played up the hidden money. He asked the kids questions to reinforce the information the guide told them. I couldn’t have asked for more!

After the Caves we went (empty handed…..Jose didn’t actually find the money) into Taulabe for ice cream and to let the kids play in the park. After 40 minutes or so of ice cream feasts and monkey bar flips it was time to go back to school. When we arrived back at the school the rest of the kids were just starting lunch so they were all outside to see our arrival. You think we had just returned from war. Every second grader was screaming and cheering as were the kids back at the school.

Now the kids of second grade are earning stars for a pizza party. I think they want it to be at my house so they can play with my cat, Memo. I don’t know if I really want all the kids of second grade playing in my yard and chasing my poor cat into hiding, so we might take the pizza back to the park in Taulabe or something. Whatever we do, I know that it will only mildly compare. The first field trip of these kids’ life has gone down in history.