Gilroy – Ginger Gallup wants to show her students the world
– a world that’s bigger than Gilroy, bigger than the garlic
fields and even bigger than the outlets.
Gilroy – Ginger Gallup wants to show her students the world – a world that’s bigger than Gilroy, bigger than the garlic fields and even bigger than the outlets. As a 7th-grade life science teacher at South Valley Middle School, she’s enticed 60 students to learn life science and life skills on a five-day field trip to Yosemite National Park. But it takes cash to get to Yosemite, cash that some of her students don’t have.
Yosemite National Institute, which runs the program, has offered limited scholarships, but the trip still runs $225 per student, including bus transportation, parent counselor fees, room and board. Gallup’s students have hawked candles, shilled hand-me-downs at a sidewalk sale, and even passed out coupons for Chevy’s Fresh Mex Restaurant, but they haven’t earned the funds. If the money doesn’t roll in – and soon – several will be staying home. The trip leaves in a month, on Feb. 4.
“I can see the stress as they try to fundraise,” said Gallup. “The parents say, ‘The money’s not in the budget.’ Their teacher’s telling them, ‘You committed to this trip.’ They feel trapped.”
For many SVMS students, the majority of whom qualify for free or reduced lunches, the Yosemite trip just isn’t in their price range. But principal John Perales says money shouldn’t scale back his students’ dreams – and the science trip is no exception.
“I still remember my sixth-grade science camp trip,” he said. “I still have those pictures. It’s a powerful lesson for students. We live 45 minutes from a state park, 45 minutes from the beach, and we’re not that far from snow. But a lot of our kids have never done that, because of finances.”
Gallup, a former outdoor educator, says the wilderness provides “an accelerated learning experience” for Gilroy kids. Twice as many students have signed up for the trip as last year. Their eyes are electric as they watch slideshows of Yosemite’s mountains, of camping in the snow and geology lessons in the field, instead of at the chalkboard.
Perales has approached the Gilroy Gang Task Force for support; Gallup wrote grant proposals to the Gilroy Foundation and to Target Stores. But none are guaranteed: Target has a long list of applicants, said Gallup, and the Gilroy Gang Task Force is already over budget for 2007. Both hope that donors will step up, and expand the world for Gilroy students.
Interested donors can e-mail
principal John Perales, jo**********@*********ca.us, to arrange a donation pickup.
