It was in the afternoon and the children had just returned to class after the lunch break. The social studies teacher came to class carrying a lot of papers and a chart which she suspended on the board.
“Today we are having an outdoor lesson,” she said. “I have talked to the people who work at Ridgeway shopping Centre and they will be glad to talk to you about what they do there,” this made the children very excited. Some of them even started discussing what they wanted to buy from the shopping Centre.
The teacher Mrs. Robert divided the children into three groups. Then she started giving them instructions, “each group is required to go to at least one place and talk to the people who work there. You will also have to complete the map. I have assigned Group 1 to go to the Education office. Group 2 will go to the Skateboard equipment store and Group 3 to the Jewelry store. I will also hand you a questionnaire that you need to have completely filled in by the end of the exercise.” She then handed out the questionnaire and map to the children. “Does anyone have a question regarding this exercise?” she inquired.
Lisa raised her hand and when the teacher picked her up, she asked, “Which member of the group should fill in the questionnaire and the maps?”
“I expect you to divide
the responsibilities among each other. Afterwards you should all write your own
notes,” Mrs. Robert answered.
So all the children began the journey towards the shopping center. It was a hot afternoon so the children had to take off their sweaters. The Shopping Centre was not too far away, just about a mile. Group A went in their own direction. They went down the streets past a big hotel to a tall building. A big poster was put up to indicate the direction to the Education office.
Damian was on the front so he knocked on the door once we got there and we heard a lady reply from the inside, “you may come in!” all the pupils stared at each other for a minute before Damian opened the door.
Inside was a lady sited in a nicely organized office. Next to her was a man seated in a smaller table. The lady looked at us and said with a smile on her face, “You lovely children must be from ridgeway primary school. Good afternoon!”
“Good afternoon!” we all replied while Damian continued, “indeed we are Grade 5 pupils of Ridgeway primary school. Our teacher organized this visit so that we can find out about the activities carried out in this shopping center.” The lady who told us to address her as Miss Elizabeth gave us seats and Damian removed the questionnaire paper from his bag.
“Miss Elizabeth, do you mind explaining to us about your work in the education department?”
“Well, I am an Education
officer so I visit schools from time to time and see how they are doing.”
“I also ensure that all
schools have an adequate number of teachers.”
“Do you perform all these duties on your own?” Damian inquired.
“No, the gentleman on my
right types and prints all my letters,” Miss Elizabeth replied, “He also
attends to any visitors while I’m away.”
“If you take a close look at the map on the wall, this zone has a total of 58 schools.” All the children turned to look at it. At the bottom of the map, it was indicated that there is a total number of thirty thousand, two hundred and ten pupils and one thousand, three hundred and four pupils in the zone.
Damian turned to the last page of the questionnaire leaflet and asked, Why did you choose to locate your office at this shopping Centre?”
Miss Elizabeth replied, “this shopping center is located in the middle of this zone which makes it
convenient for me to visit all the schools or for other teachers to visit me.”
All the Group A members thanked the Education Officer before leaving. They continued walking around in the shopping Centre while filling in the names of the shops on their maps.”
Members of Group B visited a different place in the shopping Centre. They walked past the church to a building that sells Skate boat equipment. The shop owner welcomed them.
The children asked a
couple of questions and gathered a lot of information about the store. They
learned that the shop sells sports shoes, Tennis balls, and many different types
of attire. The shop was opened there due to the demand of Skateboard equipment
in the area.
The children also learned where the supplies of the store came from. They were brought from
warehouses in the city and were supplied using large trucks. The children were
lucky enough to witness one of the trucks delivering balls and clothes. They
went outside and watched as the owner counted and recorded the equipment before
carrying them to his shop.
Group C members went down the main street of the shopping center. They walked passed a furniture shop to the jewelry store. They were welcomed by the owner who took them to the back of the shop and gave them seats. The children then started asking questions.
“When did you start this business?”
“Very long time ago. It
must be around 20 years.”
“Is this business
satisfactory or have you thought of trying another one?”
“No. I love this
business and it gives me adequate money to support my family and pay for my
children’s school fees.”
“Do you face any challenges while running this business?”
“Of course yes. The main
challenge I face is competition from shops that sell products similar to mine
so we share customers.”
The children also thanked the store owner and continued touring the shopping center while filling in the map. By 3.30 pm all the children assembled in the seventh-day church where most of them attended bible lessons. They made their way back home while thanking their teacher for the amazing afternoon they had.