SOAR director clarifies field trip incident

Carrie Ward, director of Sisters Organization for Activities and Recreation (SOAR) last week clarified what happened in an incident last summer where a child was left behind at the Village Green during a SOAR field trip.

In an interview with The Nugget last month, Ward had stated that the child had been dropped off at the park instead of at SOAR and had therefore not been included in a head count.

The parents of the child contacted Ward and The Nugget, disputing that account.

"We dropped him off at SOAR in the morning and they took him to the park," the child's father told The Nugget.

After again reviewing the incident with her staff, Ward told The Nugget that she had confused details of what had occurred.

According to Ward, a different child had in fact been dropped off at the park. That child was included in the head count for the return to SOAR, leaving the staff unaware that a child that had been on the trip from SOAR had been left out of the head count.

That child was left behind and a parent unconnected with the SOAR trip contacted the organization and the child was returned to SOAR. SOAR staff informed the child's father that afternoon about what had happened.

As a result of the incident, SOAR no longer allows children to be dropped off at the site of a field trip. All children must be dropped off and accounted for at SOAR.

Ward acknowledged that the incident left staff mortified "and (they) continue to be to this day."

She said that she did not impose disciplinary action for the incident.

"I felt the most appropriate thing to do was to figure out what happened, why it happened and make sure it never happens again," she said.

Author Bio

Jim Cornelius, Editor in Chief

Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.

• Email: editor@nuggetnews.com
• Phone: 5415499941