February 10, 2026 // Local

Stepping Beyond the Classroom

Todays Catholic

Students from many different classes at Saint Joseph High School venture outside of their classrooms and experience hands-on learning through a variety of field trips throughout the school year. They emphasize the relevance of the curriculum to real applications and reinforce how the ideas in the classroom extend into the world as a whole.

Each fall, the AP English Language and Composition students kick off the first quarter with a visit to the Raclin Murphy Museum of Art at the University of Notre Dame and the Hesburgh library. Former Saint Joseph alum Claire Kucela gave the students a presentation about applying to college and what institutions like Notre Dame are looking for. Kucela, an adviser for the Upward Bound program, noted that universities want to get to know who students truly are and encouraged them to share themselves in an authentic voice. The senior students then toured the facility of the Raclin Museum, exploring how visual art communicates complex ideas and emotions as well as the deeper meanings and morality behind each piece.

Another former Saint Joseph alum, Maggie Dosch, was the liaison for the visit in her role as assistant curator for educational outreach. Dosch helped students explore the tradition of art and encounter some of its ambiguities. This visit emphasized a key message in AP English Language by encouraging each student to think and develop their own beliefs about art. They stepped into the role of critic as they worked together to formulate their stances on contemporary pieces such as Andy Goldsworthy’s “Red Flags” and Zhang Huan’s “Ash Banquet.” The teacher, Phil DePauw, explained why he added this field trip to the course.

“Our readings dig into the philosophical reasons for defining and evaluating art, so I wanted something to tie together the unit in a more tangible way,” DePauw said. “At its best, art is a marriage of the abstract and the concrete. Plus, having such a wonderful gem like Notre Dame so close by makes it a home run.

The art museum is not the only asset Notre Dame has to offer to students at Saint Joe. The Engineering Design and Development class for Project Lead the Way traveled to the Engineering Innovation Hub on campus. There, they experienced the cutting-edge equipment and laboratories used by the undergraduate students while observing how these tools help shape future engineers. This helps cement the key message that the Engineering Design and Development class focuses on developing the future.

Each spring, multiple classes travel to visit another art museum – the world-famous Art Institute of Chicago. Jennifer Firestone in the art department takes AP Art students, as does Mike McCarthy with his freshmen World History students. They trace the progress of history over time by looking at the treasures in the collection. The day helps make the vast centuries of the past more real as students see firsthand works that were made long ago. As a bonus, students have a chance to snap photos to create their very own “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” moment.

Every year, the Student Media students tour the local studio of WSBT in South Bend to see a noon broadcast of the local news. They witness how a professional show is produced. This mirrors the daily broadcast put on by the students, who air a 10-minute news program each day to the school. This allows the students to see the possibilities of a career in journalism here in the local community. They are able to ask anchors questions after the noon broadcast ends. Some even have gone on to pursue a career in journalism, such as local weatherman Jack Van Meter at WNDU and sports reporter Jacob Morris, who covers the Crimson Tide of Alabama.

Through these and dozens of other trips throughout the year, Saint Joseph High School extends the knowledge of students beyond the classroom. It shows the dedication that the teachers have toward developing critical, innovative and cultured students while cementing the notion that experience is fundamental to the success of learning.

Timothy Freel is a senior at Saint Joseph High School.