by John Peterson
Kearns Jr. High, Guest Blogger

Every quarter Kearns Junior High School rewards students passing all their classes with a field trip or other enrichment day.  On Friday, October 26, the school wanted to send the passing students to the Hogle Zoo.  However, the zoo requires one adult chaperone per five students.  With well over three hundred students, there was no real chance the school could get enough volunteers.  Fortunately, there are organizations like United Way of Salt Lake who have folks looking for opportunities to serve.

Without the help of the United Way of Salt Lake volunteers, the school would never have been able to assemble the necessary number of chaperones.  With their help, we had a really great day.  It was a cold day.  For many of the students the experience was improved because the animals were much more active than in the heat of the summer.  Being able to meet the zoo’s requirement also helped because the students were very well behaved in the smaller groups.  None of the volunteers expressed any concerns and all seemed very positive about the situation.  Best of all it showed the students how many people felt they were important.  The example set for them was amazing.

Thanks so much to all the volunteers who made this great experience possible!

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**Kearns Jr. High is a United Way of Salt Lake Community Learning Center.**