the highlight of everyone’s time at grover cleveland middle is mr grace’s field trips. the academy of sciences, the exploratorium, chabot space center, the bay area is FULL of amazing museums and even if the kids have been there a thousand times before going with their favorite teacher makes it an entirely new experience.
ryland loves them too. he campaigned for some of the school’s stem budget to allow for every kid to get to go even if they wouldn’t normally be able to afford it, because arguably those are the kids that the trips are the most important for. he’s practically got the places memorized but that just makes him love sharing them with the kids even more. there is a catch, though.
the single parents of his students always fight for a chaperone slot. they can’t believe this man is “available” so he’s got moms and dads calling off work to hit on him. there’s a running bet on if he’ll finally fold for a man or a woman, and they are persistent as hell.
he’s so grateful he’s always got a few students clinging to him so he can make excuses to ignore their flirting in favor of asking and answering questions, and to hopefully prevent the parents from saying anything untoward before he finally reminds them that their duty is watching the kids, not him.
but it’s all worth it for the small moments, when the planetarium presenter asks a tricky question and everyone’s hands go up. when a normally unmotivated student tells him an exhibit made them realize there’s actually a science topic that really interests them. and selfishly, when the kids ask him their questions about something the tour guide said because obviously he can explain it better. he can’t always, but he appreciates the sentiment.