The FieldTrip Dispatch
Summer 2026 Edition
Season Recap — Our Students Found Their Voice
What a year for FieldTrip! Our inaugural Influence the Future in-school FieldTrip experience launched in November with 6 events, then expanded to new schools this April by popular demand. Along the way it visited 10 schools across North Carolina, Florida, and California, giving 8th graders a hands-on introduction to personal branding, digital storytelling, and using their voice for good.
Led by facilitator Jesse Simon of LA Models, Influence the Future is built around three parts: a guided discussion using real video examples that helps students discover their own spark, hands-on small-group video creation where students support each other in telling their own stories, and a closing Q&A with the facilitator. School staff and parent volunteers help throughout, prize-wheel giveaways keep the energy high between segments, and every student leaves with a FieldTrip-branded bluetooth speaker of their own.
Participating schools: STARS Charter School (NC) · Wayne Preparatory Academy (NC) · Imagine School at Palmer Ranch (FL) · Kids Community College South & Southeast (FL) · Imagine School at Town Center (FL) · Imagine Schools at South Vero (FL) · Richmond Charter Academy (CA) · Kidinnu Academy South (CA) · SAE (CA)
Moments That Mattered
Hands-On & Highly Rated
The video-creation activity was the runaway favorite in every survey — students called the room “organized chaos in the best possible way,” cheering each other on as they took turns behind the mic.
Voices That Matter
When asked what matters most for a digital influencer, students overwhelmingly chose being yourself and being creative — far outpacing follower counts or a picture-perfect feed. Students walked away seeing their own voice, and their own ideas, as something worth sharing.
Coming Up Next — Introducing Positive Connection
FieldTrip and Wonderful Foundations are teaming up with William “Bill” Groner and the Positive Connection Initiative (PCI) to bring a brand-new experience to campuses: building belonging, empathy, and human connection for every grade level, K–12.
Positive Connection will be offered to Wonderful Foundations schools in the next few weeks — and because this is a unique, high-touch offering, spots are limited. We encourage schools to sign up early to secure a place.
Connection is a skillset — and it can be taught. PCI’s workshops have already reached 70+ workshops and 3,000+ participants, with 98–99% of participants reporting stronger dialogue and listening skills afterward. Now, we’re bringing that same research-backed approach directly to our FieldTrip schools.
- Grades K–2 — Kindness & Belonging: Story-based lessons in noticing others, kind words, and feeling safe in the classroom community.
- Grades 3–5 — Friendship & Curiosity: Empathy mapping, respectful role-play, and team challenges that require listening first.
- Grades 6–8 — Respectful Disagreement: PCI’s signature triad format — speak, listen, observe — applied to real scenarios students face.
- Grades 9–12 — Civic Dialogue & Common Ground: Nine rounds of structured practice building toward nuance and shared humanity across difference.
Meet Our Facilitator
Bill Groner: Attorney, educator, and social entrepreneur who represented over 10,000 Ground Zero first responders after 9/11 before turning his focus to resilience and human connection. Bill holds a Master’s in Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania and hosts The Connection Effect podcast.
“It was hands-down the most impactful presentation I have heard in my 25 years as an educator! I sincerely believe Mr. Groner’s approach to developing relationships through connection has the capability of transforming the education model.”
— High school teacher, former Dean of Students
Interested in bringing Positive Connection to your school? Email Michele Shapiro at michele@wonderfulfoundations.org to sign up.
FieldTrip — Extraordinary Experiences That Shape Futures
A program of Wonderful Foundations
wonderfulfieldtrip.org