I grew up on a large chicken farm, and I remember elementary schools taking field trips to our farm. To the students, it was fascinating to see where an egg really comes from. For a chicken farm to be successful, they learned that:

• You need lots of chickens
• The chickens need lots of food
• The chickens lay lots of eggs, but also generate tons of manure
• The smell of chicken manure can be overpowering, especially on a hot day
• Every egg is cleaned, sorted by size, packaged into cartons, and delivered to grocery stores
• There are also pigs on the farm to eat the cracked and bad eggs
• The smell of pigs is even worse than the smell of chickens!

Overall, it was always fun to see the kids learn about farm life. It was also entertaining to see the pictures that the students sent back as thank-you cards because words like “stink” and “smell” were almost always part of the drawings!  

Well, at David C. Bos Homes we can’t offer a field trip to a chicken farm, but we can provide a field trip to a home construction site. As an example, my son’s Cub Scout den recently wanted to see what it takes to build a new home. So, we arranged a field trip to one of our homes that is under construction.

For the field trip, Ryan Frymire, one of our framing foreman, volunteered his time on a Monday evening and helped the boys install siding, read the drawings, and use some power drills. He also led a scavenger hunt in which the boys tried to find the location for things like the fireplace, kitchen sink, toilets, showers, pocket doors, washer/dryer hookups, pantry, recessed lights… The boys had a great time and hopefully learned something (eight-year old Thomas D. even expressed that he wants to build homes when he grows up).  

At David C. Bos Homes, we believe it is important to give back to our community, and we’d love to take your school/Scout group on a field trip to one of our homes. We’ll be sure to find a home that is at the best stage of construction for your group, and we’ll also emphasize the safety of everyone involved. Please call Ed Wilgenburg or Ken Vander Zee at 616-842-2248 to arrange your field trip. We look forward to showing you what we do every day!