Using a lottery for enrichment to send 600 fifth graders to the Smoky Mountains every year

Parkway-Rockwood Community Education runs one of the district’s most anticipated programs — a hands-on outdoor learning trip that now serves hundreds of students each spring.

Every spring, hundreds of fifth graders from the Rockwood School District just outside of St. Louis, Missouri, board buses headed for the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee.

For some students, it can be their first overnight trip away from home. For others, it’s their first time hiking in a national park, searching for salamanders in mountain streams, or learning science by standing in the middle of it.

Behind the scenes, Parkway-Rockwood Community Education is coordinating this capstone outdoor learning experience that serves roughly 600 students annually.

Mike Seppi, Director for Parkway-Rockwood Community Education, and his team have spent years refining how the program runs. What started as a science department field trip has evolved into a large-scale district program that requires careful planning, fair registration processes, and tools to make participation possible for as many families as possible.

A science field trip that outgrew the science department

The Smoky Mountains Adventure program didn’t originally belong to community education.

Years ago, the trip ran through the science department for Rockwood school district. As the trip gained popularity, the logistics quickly became overwhelming. The science coordinator found themselves spending an outsized amount of time managing the program.

As Seppi explains:

“It grew in popularity to the point where the science coordinator was basically saying, ‘I’m spending a large percent of my time on an overall small percentage of kids in the district because the trip has gotten so big.”

At that point, the district turned to community education.

“They said, ‘You’re the logistics people. This is what you do — you run programs, handle registrations, and manage operations. Would you be willing to take over the running of this program?”

Community education said yes, and over time, the trip grew into something much bigger.

A capstone experience for fifth graders

Today, the Smoky Mountains Adventure trip has become a signature experience for Rockwood fifth graders.

Each spring, community education organizes six separate trips, with roughly 100 students per trip. The students come from 19 elementary schools, which are paired together across the different weekends. The structure is simple but powerful.

Students leave early Friday morning and travel by bus to the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont, an environmental education center located inside the national park. They return home Monday evening after several days immersed in hands-on outdoor learning.

During the trip, students might:

• Search streams for salamanders

• Hike to waterfalls

• Explore forest ecosystems

• Participate in guided environmental science activities

• Learn outdoor skills alongside park educators

Teachers from the participating schools serve as chaperones and work alongside Tremont instructors to guide the experience.

“It’s really about connecting kids with the outdoors,” Seppi says. “They’re hiking, they’re exploring streams, they’re learning science by doing it.”

Over the years, the program has become something students look forward to long before they reach fifth grade.

“We see about 50 percent of all Rockwood fifth graders participate in the trip,” Seppi says.

For many families, it has become a tradition.

Why experimental learning matters

The educational benefits of the trip go beyond the science curriculum. Outdoor learning creates opportunities for students who might not always thrive in a traditional classroom.

“Kids really rise on this trip,” Seppi says. “When they’re outside, engaged, and moving, they can shine in new ways outside of a classroom setting.”

The trip also introduces an important life experience for many students: independence. For some participants, it’s their first time spending multiple nights away from home. Phones stay on the bus. Days are spent outdoors. Students navigate new environments, collaborate with peers, and develop confidence.

“We really talk about the trip as an opportunity for independence as much as education,” Seppi explains. “It’s a chance for kids to grow.”

When demand outpaces capacity

As the program grew in popularity, community education faced a new challenge: demand. With hundreds of students interested in the trip every year, the team needed a fair and manageable way to handle registration. For years, they tried traditional registration openings, and the result was predictable.

“Every time we opened registration, there was frustration,” Seppi says. “We tried picking a time — Saturday morning at 9:00 — but there’s really no perfect time that works for everyone.”

Families rushed to register as soon as enrollment opened, hoping to secure a spot before the program filled. Even then, waitlists were inevitable.

“Almost every year we end up with a waitlist,” Seppi says.

The registration experience became stressful for both families and staff.

An enrichment lottery system that changed the process

About three years ago, Parkway-Rockwood Community Education adopted a new enrichment lottery registration approach using Arux. Instead of racing to register, families now enter a lottery window.

The process works like this:

• Lottery registration opens in early May 

• Families can sign up anytime through September 30

• There is no advantage to registering earlier

• The lottery runs on October 1

This approach immediately changed the experience.

“It has been a dramatic improvement in the order and effectiveness of how we manage registration,” Seppi says.

Families no longer need to rush to secure a spot. Staff avoid the chaos of a high-pressure registration opening. Once the lottery runs, selected families are notified, and the remaining applicants are placed on a waitlist. The program typically sees around 15 percent of participants drop before the trip, since families sign up months in advance. When that happens, Community Education simply moves to the next student on the waitlist, randomly generated by the lottery.

Making the trip accessible for families

Because the Smoky Mountains trip includes transportation, lodging, and environmental programming, it comes with a cost. Community education wanted to ensure that cost wouldn’t become a barrier for families who wanted their children to participate. One of the ways they’ve addressed this is through installment payment options within Arux.

Families can choose to:

• Pay the full cost up front, or

• Pay a deposit and spread the remaining balance across multiple installments

• For example, families who choose installment pay:

  • A deposit is made when selected in the lottery

  • Followed by payments on November 1, December 1, January 1, and February 1

According to Seppi, many families take advantage of the payment plan.

“More families choose installments than paying in full,” he says.

Spreading the cost over several months helps make participation possible for more students.

Advice for community education leaders

While the Smoky Mountains program has grown into a large district initiative, Seppi believes the underlying idea is something any community education program can explore. And, it doesn’t have to start with a four-day overnight trip.

“It could be a day trip. It could be a visit to a state park,” he says.

The key is creating opportunities for experiential learning.

“What we’ve found is that providing opportunities for hands-on experiences outside the classroom is incredibly valuable for students.”

Programs like these support learning, independence, and personal growth — all while strengthening the connection between schools and the communities they serve.

An enrichment program that students remember

Fifteen years after community education first took over the Smoky Mountains trip, the program continues to evolve alongside district needs. Enrollment trends shift, and the number of trips adjusts from year to year. Regardless, operational processes continue to improve, and one thing remains consistent.

For hundreds of Rockwood students each year, the Smoky Mountains Adventure trip is more than just a field trip.

It’s a moment of discovery, in nature, in science, and often in themselves.

Key takeaways

• Scaling a 600-student program requires connected systems. Parkway-Rockwood Community Education relies on software that brings registration, capacity tracking, and program management into one place instead of spreading work across tools.
  

• Flexible registration models reduce friction when demand exceeds capacity. With hundreds of families competing for limited spots, having configurable enrollment workflows and fair registration processes becomes essential to maintaining trust and participation.
  

• Centralized program data makes multi-school coordination possible. Managing students across 19 elementary schools and multiple trip sessions requires real-time visibility into enrollment, rosters, and participation, something only a unified platform can support.
  

• Automation replaces manual workload as programs grow. As the trip expanded beyond what a single coordinator could manage, technology enabled the shift from staff-heavy coordination to scalable systems that handle registrations, communication, and tracking.
  

• Modern program management tools expand access, not just efficiency. By simplifying operations and reducing administrative bottlenecks, platforms like Arux help districts open high-demand experiences to more families each year.