Jody Howison is curious, spontaneous and brave.
Those qualities, plus a doctorate in geography, have turned her into the perfect tour guide.
She can name the best street lights in the world (Budapest), the loveliest trash bins (Verona, Italy) and the most confusing rental-car return (Orly Airport in Paris).
In short, Jody Howison knows her way around the block.
It is no surprise, then, that on a recent morning she and a small entourage are lined up at the Comair ticket counter at Cincinnati - Northern Kentucky International Airport, checking fares to Asheville, N.C.
This is a one-class airplane, right? If I buy my ticket right now, how much will it cost? Any food on this flight?
She peppers the ticket agent with questions, then steps aside to confer with her travel companions - without purchasing tickets. This trip doesn't begin at the airport.
This trip is the airport. This group's destination isn't Asheville. It is metropolitan Cincinnati. And, while it may appear Dr. Howison's group isn't going anywhere, it is in fact going everywhere.
Every Friday, Jody Howison pulls her Buick station wagon up to Roosevelt Elementary School in South Fairmount, picks up a rotating group of five eager students and shows them a little piece of the world.
Field trips, they're called. Dr. Howison does field trips.
Places to explore
Since spring, the retired University of Cincinnati geography professor has taken dozens of Roosevelt students on day-long trips to Rabbit Hash, Ky., and Fort Ancient, to canals in Metamora, Ind., and Indian mounds in Miamisburg.
And - the students' favorite - to the airport.
They figure out "why Cincinnati is where it is" by viewing the city from a half-dozen parks on both sides of the river. They study time zones by trying to order the day's first McDonald's hamburger in Ohio, then in Indiana. They hop on airport shuttles, catch Ohio River ferries, and climb into airplane cockpits and Carew Tower elevators.
And while the theme changes every Friday - from river towns to old highways - Dr. Howison's underlying message stays the same. "It's what a wonderful place the world is, and what a fun place to explore," she says. "It's not to be afraid. The sooner you start exploring the world, the less fear you'll have."
Magic carpet ride
It is a message the Roosevelt children need desperately. "Our children would probably never see these places if not for her," says their principal, Brenda Hand.
The trips started after Dr. Howison heard Procter & Gamble Chairman John Pepper give a speech on mentoring. Mrs. Hand was present, hoping someone would volunteer to help her inner-city elementary students. Jody Howison stepped up.
"I'd love to be a mentor, but I don't have enough time," she said. "Would you be interested in my taking students on field trips?" Mrs. Hand remembers nodding yes, in shock. She had always believed Roosevelt Elementary's fairy godmother would arrive, but not in a Buick station wagon.
Now Jody Howison rolls in every Friday morning, unfurls her magic carpet and whisks five happy children away for geography, lunch at McDonald's and a daylong adventure.
With her in the driver's seat, they learn all sorts of things. How to read arrival and departure charts, for example, calculate mileage, estimate distance.
But mostly they learn how to enter Dr. Howison's "wonderful world" - a place where a million doors are open to them; where their minds can open and imaginations blossom; and, most importantly, where a caring adult is willing to act as teacher, friend and tour guide extraordinaire.
Krista Ramsey's column appears on Saturdays. Write her at the Enquirer, 312 Elm St. Cincinnati 45202.
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