Field Trip Preparation

      If you are not familiar with the cemetery you intend to use as a teaching resource, take time to  visit the site prior to taking a class.  Orient yourself to parking spaces and the sections of the cemetery in which your students will work. Visit the office or contact the caretaker or sexton to  explain your reason for visiting and when you would like to bring your class.  Also inquire about rules, brochures, historical information, and maps of the cemetery. 
     It  is generally best to choose the oldest part of a large cemetery for your field work.  First, it will likely have the most interesting monuments for history studies, and secondly, you can usually work in this area without interruption to your class or, more importantly, to cemetery visitors.  Use good judgement and plan well when visiting "open" or in use cemeteries.  With "closed" cemeteries, those that no longer have burials, you and your students will have more freedom.  However, do try to get permission from the owner of the land surrounding the cemetery before visiting.

The voice of experience suggests that you should schedule field trips to open cemeteries for the early morning hours-- 8:00 to 11:00.  This usually avoids interrupting a burial service.  You may feel more comfortable checking the day before your field trip with the cemetery office or caretaker to be certain no services are scheduled.  If you should happen to visit when a service is being conducted, do your field work quietly in a section removed from the mourners.  Allow at least one and a half to two hours for a cemetery visit.
     Explain to students that cemeteries are historic sites and very important and reverent places to the people who have families and friends interred.  Cemeteries are to be treated with respect, even if closed.  If visitors are in the cemetery, students should not disturb them but go about their work quietly.  As you orient your students prior to the field work, be very clear about what is expected of them in terms of behavior and assignments.  Depending on the ages and capability levels in your class, you may want students to work in small teams of two to four with each team member being responsible for specific questions or products.
     Plan for safety.  Remind students to wear appropriate clothing and shoes and be aware of uneven ground and tree roots which may cause falls and low lying areas which may retain water.  If you visit in the summer, be prepared  for insects, bees, wasps, chiggers, ticks, and snakes.  If visiting an abandoned or unkempt cemetery, it is best to do so in colder months when vegetation is down allowing you to see stones and graves more clearly, as well as natural and very much alive inhabitants of this green space.