On Tuesday, September 13, 2016, the sophomores went on a science-related field trip to Twin Falls with their mentors, Ms.Hoagland and Mrs. Lahti. The sophomores are taking biology, so they are learning about the plant kingdom and how to classify plants. They went to collect plant specimens for their research.

They split into two groups. One group was with Ms.Hoagland while the other explored with Mrs. Lahti.  Both groups searched for horsetails, liverworts, moss, and ferns. One would normally imagine searching for plants to be a relatively mundane, relaxed, no worries trip.  Such, however, was not the case for this field trip.  They had some interesting things happen. “There were two men panning for gold. I’m not even kidding,” Ms. Hoagland laughed. A buzz with news of the two hopeful prospectors, the hilltop dance by Mrs. Lahti and Elizabeth Kobie was initially mistaken as a positive plant discovery.  Nothing could have been further from the truth.  “We must have taken a different trail than the rest of them. We happened to step on a hornets nest. There were hornets everywhere,” Elizabeth Kobie explained. She and Mrs. Lahti were both stung multiple times as the angry buzzers were upset at having their home disturbed.  But all stories at South Shore end well and Elizabeth did have a nice time collecting plants and experiencing a learning environment outside of the classroom despite the hornet stings.  She also discovered, thankfully, that she is not allergic to bee stings, this being her first time getting stung.