CRESTWOOD, OH — A permission slip authorizing third-grader Owen Calloway, 9, to attend the Franklin County Aquarium field trip was discovered Tuesday by his mother, Diane Calloway, 38, inside his backpack, approximately 23 days after the field trip had already taken place without incident.

Owen returned home from the aquarium on February 19 having seen the sharks, purchased a hermit crab keychain, and experienced what his teacher described as “meaningful learning about oceanic ecosystems.” The permission slip authorizing the trip remained in the backpack throughout, unsigned, undiscovered, and technically rendering the entire excursion unauthorized by any legal guardian.

Diane Calloway said she found the form while searching for Owen’s missing left snow boot.

“I signed it,” she said. “I don’t know why I signed it. He’s already been. He saw the sharks.”

“I did try to give it to her,” Owen clarified, citing an unspecified Tuesday in early February. “She was on the phone.”

Owen’s teacher, Ms. Patricia Holden, 44, confirmed the child participated fully and that the school keeps a signed emergency card on file, which technically covered the outing. She noted this was the fourth such late discovery this school year and that she has “made peace with the process.”

The signed permission slip has been placed on the refrigerator, where it joins a field trip form from October and a school photo order envelope that arrived in November.

At press time, Diane had located the snow boot. It was inside the backpack.