This story is based on field trips I took 5th graders on over a 15 year period to a school for special needs kids.  Although it is not based on any one student, it easily could have been a number of students I had thoughout the year.
The story is about introducing 5th graders to a population most have never known.  Kids their own age with disabilities.  
So, follow the day of this fifth grader that wants nothing to do with this "so called" field trip and how getting to know someone can change your life.  

Coming to you soon in paperback

 
“The Field Trip” is based on real events from fifth grade class trips taken between
2001 and 2015.
 
The fall of 2001 brought a new set of students into my classroom, as it did every year, but this year was going to be a little different. This year our class would be welcoming a student from a school across town. The school our new classmate was coming from was for kids with special needs. What nobody knew at the time was that this one student would begin the events that would positively affect the lives of hundreds of kids.
 
Our newest student soon became a classmate to all and a friend to many. But, after a few months, questions began to be asked. Some How, What and When questions were asked, but since our newest classmate only spent two days a week with us, the main question was, “Where does he go when he's not here?” That was the question that started a fourteen-year journey that took approximately 1200 students on over 200 field trips to that school across town . That was the question that introduced these 1200 students to peers that when in public, are often
pointed at, mimicked, teased or ignored.
That was the question that opened a new world to 1200 students that will
no longer point, mimic, tease or ignore.
 
That was the question this book is based on.