A Field Trip Failure Turned into a Grand Success

After getting the information about an off-Broadway play from the Teach For America newsletter, I planned to take some of my best students on a weekend field trip as a reward. This would be my first Reading Reward trip for the year and I had three young ladies meet the reading goal and they were more than excited to go on an excursion with their English teacher. I also invited two girls from my beginning class to recognize their great effort and good behavior.
I met all the girls in Washington Heights at the Wendy's restaurants and, after waiting for one girl who had forgotten about the trip, we headed all the way downtown to SoHo on the A express train. We rushed to the theater and arrived just before the show was to start at 1:00 p.m. As soon as we walked up I read a small printed sign that said, "Performance cancelled due to cast illness." I didn't skip a beat in telling the girls that we would still have a fantastic time together and that we would surely try to make it to the show again. Right away we started walking around SoHo and exploring together. We found the Scholastic Store that was filled with great books, puppets, hats, and educational toys. After playing around a bit, we started walking north and made it all the way to Union Squares (the girls complained a bit about the walking, but not near as much as my grandpa had a week earlier). In Union Square, one of my favorite places in the City, we went to Barnes & Noble and had a snack of cookies and soda. The girls were adorable the whole time and I think all of us enjoyed each other's company.
We returned to Washington Heights at the pre-arranged time and their parents and older siblings were all there to take these wonderful students home. Even thought the trip didn't turn out as planned, it was still a great time. I will be calling the theater today to reschedule and look forward to another fun time with a few of my favorite students.