I think every child that lives within 60 minutes of Lake Michigan should get to see it when they are children. It is the awe and sense of wonder of seeing a large body of water that you cannot see the other side of, that changes you forever. You first begin to realize how big the world is and how small we actually are in the scheme of things and it begs you to see more of it. My first teaching job out of college was working for Headstart and my favorite field trip with the kids was taking them to a Lake Michigan beach.
Headstart serves low income and special needs families and is usually located in a big city or remote rural areas. Sometimes these kids don't get to see much outside the small space they live in ,as the cost and time of transportation isn't always there. (Headstart usually buses most of the kids to their preschool classes to assure regular attendance and so they receive the services they are offered.) I knew in my heart of hearts, that many had probably never seen Lake Michigan at all ,even though our program was just 45 minutes outside of Milwaukee. I always tried to offer new experiences in the field trips we planned,and my love of Lake Michigan and the fond childhood memories I had,made me want to offer this experience to my classroom kids as well. There were a huge amount of small inland lakes in the county i taught in ,so i am sure the bus driver could not understand the request for field trip into Milwaukee to go to the beach. (Some of the other walking field trips i took my kids on were: a nursing home Valentine's week to deliver cards( vs a classroom party that emphasizes ourselves),a trip to a local music store( that would play all the instruments for us), a local grocery store( to pick out healthy snacks from all four of the food groups), a dentist office( to learn about the sugar content in food and what they do to our teeth), a nature hike at a forest preserve in our county, and to pick out a real Christmas tree for our classroom. Each class of about 20 kids got to plan their own trips so we had alot of variety of field trips in our program, that the teachers could base on the units of study they were teaching that week.)
When choosing a Lake Michigan beach for the trip, I wanted to make sure it was not right in the downtown area ,amidst all the grandeur of the tall buildings and hustle and bustle of traffic. I wanted it to be a secluded, beautiful beach where the kids could just appreciate the awesome size and beauty of the Lake and beach itself. So i chose my husband's childhood haunt- Grant Park Beach , about 20 minutes south of downtown Milwaukee( past South Shore Park). It is a beautiful park and beach that has a short steep road down to the beach just below the 18 hole golf course( where Dave had taught me how to play golf years earlier).
We brought Frisbee's to play with on the beach( as balls were too risky of ending up in the Lake), and of course our picnic lunches to eat. The first thing we did when we got off the bus ,was take off all our shoes and dip our toes into the Lake. I watched intently their little faces, as they looked out into the endless water in front of them. I am sure they could not believe how BIG it was, as most if not all of them, had only experienced small inland lakes or public swimming pools. I wonder what went through their little minds as they looked out on the amazing expanse of water, giggling with their toes in the water? Even our young adult bus driver was in awe herself, perhaps she had missed this Lake Michigan experience as a child as well. This must have been an "ah- ha moment" for all of them, of that i am sure. It was a lovely afternoon with my Headstart kids at Grant Park Beach, that i fondly remember as one of my favorite teacher moments!
My hope is that it showed them that the world was a big, interesting place to explore and there was soooooooo much more to see!! It hopefully showed them the beauty of nature and the fun of a no-cost, no frills beach afternoon ,that children of any income level can enjoy. I hope it gave them a true AWE of the world they lived in and whether through reading about new places or actually experiencing them in their futures lives , that they would want to continue to explore the world around them. What a gift of nature God has given us all!!
post script .....Years later I took some of the Malawi children's village children to Lake Malawi "for a dip", each time i came to teach in their village. It was for the same purpose ,but halfway around the world. These children lived in an orphanage only blocks from the lake, but seldom if ever got to enjoy it. They would chant "Carol... Carol", as i drew near to the orpahange on a Saturday or Sunday ,as they knew that may be the day we were going to the beach.We sang songs as we walked along the dirt roads to and from the lake ,adding to the fun, and had a snack of crackers and juice after swimming before returning to the orphanage later in the afternoon. Their many brown little naked bodies splashing in and out of the lake were pure joy to watch!! And even the ones who had great fear of the splashing waves( perhaps never having seen the Lake before) learned to smile and giggle and play at the waters edge by our third or fourth trip. It was a true delight to watch, and a blessing to get them out of the perimeter of the orphanage property itself ,if only for an afternoon- a real breath of fresh air for all of us !!
* note of interest..... Lake Malawi is the same size as Lake Michigan. Brother Peter calls it
"the Calendar Lake", as it is 365 miles long and 52 miles wide...) .
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