Mount Ayr Record-News
Mount Ayr, Ringgold County, Iowa
Thursday, December 04, 2014

A class field trip for a group of Mount Ayr elementary students was recently featured in an article in a national publication.

Each May Karen Taylor takes her second grade students on a field trip to complete the year in social studies. They visit several businesses around the community, and the owner and the workers tell the students about their day-to-day functions and gives the kids a tour that patrons would not normally see.

As part of their tour, the students usually visit various offices in the courthouse. When district court judge Gary Kimes heard the class would be visiting during a time he was having court, he came up with the idea to have them watch the court in session.

With agreements from both of the attorneys, Judge Kimes stopped the proceedings to explain to the students the role and job of each person in the courtroom and took time to answer the many questions that came his way.

"The class is also learning to write thank you letters and this works out well with our visits so we try to divide them among all the places we visit so they don't have to write so many, but they all wanted to write to Judge Kimes," said Taylor.

The students wrote letters after their visit to thank the judge for his time. The letters also commented on the court reporter and how much the children admired the job.

One letter read:

"Dear Judge Kimes,

"Thank you for letting us go in the courtroom. You had a nice robe on. Thank you for letting us see your helpers. All of the jury seemed nice. I love the court reporter."

As a result of the letters, which were shared with court personnel, Taylor's field trip was featured in an article in the Journal of Court Reporting, a national magazine that court reporters receive nationwide.

"I never dreamed it would have the impact it did on the students," said Taylor. "It just took their potential career choices to a whole new level. Most of them had only witnessed what goes on in a courtroom via television and the visit brought it to life."

A field trip to the Ringgold County courthouse by Karen Taylor's second grade class last year has been featured in a national publication. Class members included:

Front row, L-R: Carson Mathany, Treyton Still, Kiera Hyde, Rhinanna Supinger, Ty Jones, Carter Reed and Preston Fleharty;

Second Row, L-R: Colton Dredge, Lilly Fuller, Ashton Benesh, Arnette Osborn, Olivia Hatfield, Abby Eaton, Hayden Ruggles and Zoey Shelley;

Back Row, L-R: Kaden Kibbe and Karen Taylor.

(Not pictured are Brik Willis, Mya Sackett, Ryce Reynolds and Karly Elwood.)

Transcription by Sharon R. Becker, January of 2015