Miss Pat called the class to order and announced, “Class, on Monday, the 23rd of May,we are taking a class trip to a working farm outside of town.”

The class all clapped and Hector asked, “Will the class trip be all day”? Miss Pat smiled and answered, “Yes, it will be an all day class trip so we have some planning to do today so we are ready for the trip.”

As Miss Pat handed out the class trip permission request slips, she reminded the class that they needed to take the slips home and get a parent signature in order to go on the class trip.

“Remember class, do this right away, before you forget. Get the slips back to me as soon as you can. I can’t allow any one of you to take the trip if I don’t have a signed permission slip from a parent before the day of the trip. There are no exceptions to this school rule about trips.” The whole class sang out at the same time, “Yes Miss Pat.”

“First,” said Miss Pat, “We need to talk about what to wear. Be sure to wear comfortable shoes that are good for lots of walking. Wear a sweater or jacket if it is cool. Other than lunch and morning and afternoon snacks, don’t carry anything else. I will get bottles of water from the school kitchen and that is the beverage we will drink during the day and at lunch.”

Miss Pat took out a list of suggested snacks and lunches that are fine for a trip when you don’t have anyway to keep them cold. She got the list from the school nutritionist. She asked Bobby to hand out the list to each child in class to being home for a parent to read.

Here are some of the things the nutritionist recommended to take on the class trip that don’t need to be kept cold:

• Whole fruits: apples, bananas, pears, grapes, berries, oranges
• Trail mix (avoid those with candy; stick with nuts, dried fruit, and seeds)
• Peanut butter/jelly in a sandwich or on crackers
• Dry cereal (look for varieties with less than 5 grams of sugar per serving)
• Whole-grain pretzels or baked crackers
• Popcorn, without butter or salt
• Fruit leathers (made with 100% fruit juice or puree), or dried  fruits
• Applesauce (check labels for sugar content)
• Beef/turkey jerky
• Nuts or seeds
• Cookies: fig bars, animal crackers, oatmeal cookies, graham crackers