Field Trips That Fund Futures

Send us a text

What if the best classroom is just down the road? We sit with Rebecca Barefoot from the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources to reveal how a million-dollar Field Trip Fund is sending students to museums, aquariums, state parks, historic sites, and the zoo—with an application that’s simple, fast, and designed for real school schedules.

Website: spotlight4success.com

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:06):
Welcome to Spotlight for Success by American Book
Company.
I am Devin Pintozi, your host.
We are here in sunny Charlotte,North Carolina at the NCMLE, the
North Carolina Mid-LevelEducators Conference here.
It's been a wonderfulexperience, and we are here with
a very special guest, uh RebeccaBarefoot, and uh she is here

(00:29):
with the North CarolinaDepartment of Natural and
Cultural Resources.
Thank you for joining us,Rebecca.

SPEAKER_01 (00:36):
Yes, thanks for this opportunity to talk.
So I am the Field Trip FundManager, and my role with the
Department of Natural andCultural Resources is to connect
our public school students tostate sites.
There's about a hundred thatthey can choose from, whether
that's our aquariums, the NorthCarolina Zoo, our state history

(01:00):
and science museum, state parks,state historic sites.
There's opportunities everywhereacross the state for students to
connect to their localcommunity.

SPEAKER_00 (01:09):
Oh, that is wonderful, uh, Rebecca.
And uh can you tell us a littlebit?
I understand that there's aspecial grant or something for
schools?

SPEAKER_01 (01:18):
It is.
So uh last year uh GovernorCooper set aside a million
dollars for this fund, and weare uh trying to show how
beneficial it is.
We're hoping that this continuesto the legislative budget.
Uh but so far we have served7,000 students across 53
counties going to field trips.

SPEAKER_00 (01:40):
That's amazing.

SPEAKER_01 (01:40):
Yes, and this is a reimbursement fund, so teachers
simply have to contact the statesite they want to go to.
They apply on our website, andit's a pretty quick uh process
for being approved and gettingreimbursed.

SPEAKER_00 (01:54):
Okay, and so what is that website where they can get
that information?

SPEAKER_01 (01:58):
It is dncr.nc.gov forward slash field trip
funding.

SPEAKER_00 (02:05):
Oh, that is awesome.
And do you have a list?
Uh you have a something youimagine you brought a map with
you, I understand?

SPEAKER_01 (02:10):
Yes, I did.
Uh so I've been showing off thisgreat map resource.
Uh as you can see, there are allof our state sites are
numerated, and when you go on toour website, you'll see the
field trip map where you can goby discipline to find where you
want to go.

SPEAKER_00 (02:29):
That is wonderful.
What a great resource for thewhole state and for all of the
teachers uh that want to planfield trips uh but are worried
about where am I gonna get themoney for this.

SPEAKER_01 (02:39):
Exactly.
Yes.
So, you know, even though it's areimbursement process, it takes
30 days to get the money backafter the field trip.

SPEAKER_00 (02:47):
Wow, that's pretty fast.

SPEAKER_01 (02:48):
And uh we prioritize Title I schools.

SPEAKER_00 (02:51):
Okay.

SPEAKER_01 (02:52):
So not only do we cover transportation, uh Title I
uh schools can have their lunchcovered.
Uh let's say, you know, it's amiddle school coming and one
teacher teaches multiple grades,but only one grade's going,
we'll cover the substituteteacher costs.
We'll cover the program andactivity cost.

SPEAKER_00 (03:09):
Wow.
Yeah.
That is wonderful.
Thank you for watching Spotlightfor Success.
I am David Pentosi, the chiefoperating officer of American
Book Company.
We are located here in ourheadquarters in Woodstone,
Georgia.
All of our materials are printedin the USA.
We have materials or you can getthree samples of our materials

(03:54):
either in print or in electronicformat at ABCK12.com.
We look forward to hearing fromyou.
What uh what uh led you todecide to become uh part of this
stream of education within themuseums?

SPEAKER_01 (04:10):
Okay, so I have been working in the museum field for
almost 15 years.
Um I have worked at the sitesconnecting students to their
place-based history.
I love seeing how their eyesjust widen when they actually
get to interact with theirhistoric resources or their
cultural resources.

(04:31):
And you know, they get tounderstand that history is not
just in a textbook.
Yes, it's in your backyard.
Um, so I took on thisopportunity because I wanted to
work more at the administrativelevel to be able to positively
affect more lives at a widerscale.

SPEAKER_00 (04:48):
That's wonderful.
Yeah.
And uh, do you have any specialmoments where you're like, this
was incredible with thestudents?

SPEAKER_01 (04:55):
Yes.
Uh so years ago I interned at uhone of our state sites, the
Charlotte Hawkins Brown Museum,and this was an amazing site of
African American history wherestudents would come learn about
Dr.
Brown and the school that shestarted uh during the times of
the Jim Grow period.
But what was really kind of coolwas you're taking students

(05:16):
through her house, and all of asudden they recognize the like
old-timey telephone, and I'mlike, how do they even know
this?
They're like, Oh, I watched AmyGriffith with my grandmother,
and I get it.
So I thought that was kind offun.
Um, but yeah, just some biggeraha moments is just seeing like
kids go to state parks and dolike a hike and exploring our

(05:37):
native plant life.
Um, seeing we actually have acool outreach program to
students.
We have a bilingual uh bookcalled Plots, Tales, and Trails,
where kids in elementary schoolwill read about how our state
dog and the monarch butterflyget to explore the different
state sites.

SPEAKER_00 (05:58):
Wow.

SPEAKER_01 (05:59):
That kind of thing.
So we have a lot of reallycreative uh opportunities.
So that's why I wanted to comeon board with the state.

SPEAKER_00 (06:07):
That's wonderful.
And uh Rebecca, can you uh ifyou have anything else you'd
like to share with the NCMLEcommunity?

SPEAKER_01 (06:13):
Um that we want to get your students into their
state sites.
I cannot emphasize that as much.
So right now the funding ends atthe end of 2026.
Uh so basically, if you have astate site near you within a
day, it's a good thing for likea half-day trip, or even if you
want to go across the state,we're here to fund it.

SPEAKER_00 (06:33):
Oh, that is wonderful.

SPEAKER_01 (06:35):
So take advantage of what's available.
A lot of middle schools will goto DC, which is great, you get
to see the nation's capital, butwe also have our own capital
here.
And even that you can getcreative at our historic sites
with studying uh our capital andstate history in different time
periods.

SPEAKER_00 (06:53):
Oh, that's wonderful.
Uh well, thank you uh so much,Rebecca Barefoot with the North
Carolina Department of Naturaland Cultural Resources.
Thank you for joining us today.

SPEAKER_01 (07:02):
Yes, thank you for having me, and we look forward
to your application.