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Field Trips: Navigating Welcome and Unwelcome Disruptions April 30, 2026 13:16
On Tuesday morning, the majority of our student body at our high school hopped on a fleet of school buses and headed downtown to the Indiana Repertory Theatre to see the musical Come From Away.
This musical takes place in a small town in Newfoundland. On September 11, 2001, several planes that were flying to the U.S. were diverted and grounded at the Gander airport because of the terrorist attacks.
Come From Away focused on the people of this town and those who were stranded there over the course of several days.
What I liked about this performance is it didn’t focus on planes crashing into the Twin Towers, or the turmoil and trauma that ensued. Instead, it focused on ordinary people living their ordinary lives until an unexpected disruption encouraged everyone to pivot and come to the aid of thousands of strangers.
Citizens of Gander took these stranded passengers into their homes. They shared their food and clothing; they gave them warm places to shower, sleep, and take shelter from the fear and uncertainty of this devastating disruption.
Strangers helped strangers, and the common denominators for navigating this situation were connection, interconnection, kindness, and compassion.
The actors and musicians in this production were incredible, and our students thoroughly enjoyed this performance. I was very grateful we were able to experience it together.
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Field trips are welcome disruptions. Successful ones require careful planning, and this trip was definitely a success. It was an organized, well-choreographed learning opportunity that involved permission slips, ticket sales, calls to the Ed Center and Transportation department. It required the help of bus drivers, cafeteria staff, administrators, teachers, substitutes, chaperones, and, of course, students. Many hearts and hands worked together to make this adventure possible, and it took time, effort, and careful planning. At the core of all of this, what made this trip a success is interdependence.
Ironically, all this planning for a welcome disruption took us to a production (that was also carefully planned, organized, and choreographed) that focused on an unexpected disruption, the 9/11 attacks, which led to a series of even more unexpected disruptions.
Ah, samsara! Samsara, or cyclic existence, is all about navigating all kinds of disruptions—whether they are planned, unplanned—big or small—positive, negative, or neutral—we are constantly pivoting, adapting, and transforming to accommodate constant change.
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Thankfully, we returned to school safely in the early afternoon. The cafeteria staff hustled to feed 300 hungry students in three, tightly-staggered lunch shifts.
Our students found this musical riveting and powerful; many were curious about 9/11 as this tragedy occurred before they were born. Some asked their teachers about what they remembered about this day—where they were and what they were doing.
I told a student about my own experience. I had been teaching full-time at Ben Davis H.S., and we were I-STEP testing on that day. I had proctored the first session of tests; another teacher came to my room so that I could deliver the test booklets to the office.
When I walked into the Guidance Office, several teachers and counselors were gathered around a large television strapped to a cart. The first plane had crashed into the North Tower, and we all watched in silence as smoke billowed from the building. It was a surreal experience.
I walked back to my classroom with a huge knot in my throat. I knew something horrible had happened, and my students had no idea…yet. I remember looking at them and knowing that things would change dramatically for all of us on that day. We were instructed not to say anything yet. Our principal would make an announcement shortly afterwards.
I also remember students begging me to turn on the Dukane projector after his announcement (at that time, we had schoolwide access to some television channels via internet). They wanted to watch—and I declined. I told them that is all that they would see on television later on and for many days to come, and I didn’t want to bring it into the classroom. They were mad at me, but looking back, I’m glad I didn’t play news coverage at that time. That would have been a disturbing, traumatic, anxiety-producing disruption that I was not ready, or willing, to expose my students to.
We talked about it, wrote about it, and processed it in the coming days and weeks, but I didn’t want to inundate them with tragic news in real time. Besides, high-stakes state testing followed by tragic national news—that’s not a good combination!
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Successfully dealing with disruptions requires a willingness to let go of expectations and an aspiration to focus on benefiting others. Having a minute to take a breath and pausing before taking action can be helpful, too.
May you pivot, adjust, adapt, and transform with skill and grace today—and in the coming days and weeks. May you treat others with compassion, kindness, and patience as we all deal with whatever disruptions come our way.
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Thank you for taking the time to read this month’s blog offering. If you’re in the Indianapolis area and can catch a performance of Come From Away, I highly recommend it. The show runs until May 10th at Indiana Repertory Theatre.
I’ve also added a few new mala designs to the online shop. Mother’s Day is coming soon, too, and malas make thoughtful gifts for mamas who meditate. Meditation is also a wonderful way of dealing with disruptions, by the way.
Take care,
T
