Instead Of Slave Labor, Think Of It As An Early Lesson In Unpaid Internships

Back when I was in grade school we went on a fieldtrip to a ‘science and ecology center.’

When we got there, we found out two things: One, my teacher knew the people who owned the science and ecology center. Two, it wasn’t actually set up yet; the main building was still under construction, but they had a few temporary inflatable buildings and a large garden.

Rather than explore the handful of exhibits in the temporary buildings, the teacher lead us to the garden and handed us all seeds.

We spent the whole fieldtrip planting radishes, cucumbers, carrots, and other vegetables so that kids who would visit when the center officially opened would be able to buy ‘locally grown veggies.’

Our parents had to pay $35 and pack lunches for this. The fallout from upset parents was bad enough that our teacher got fired at the end of the school year.