In early April we traveled with the middle school to Washington D.C. for a weeklong trip. We packed in many experiences including visits to Arlington National Cemetery, the Supreme Court, Library of Congress, the Holocaust Museum, several Smithsonian museums, a concert at the Kennedy Center, a tour of the Capitol, a day bicycling from old town Alexandria to Mount Vernon on the George Washington bike path, and an evening watching the Washington Nationals play the Phillies.
We went by train from Albany to D.C.
Mir, Linnie, Adrian and Eliot in Penn Station on the way down.
Evan, Aran, John, Margot, Kellen and C at the USS Intrepid Sea Air Space Museum during our afternoon in NYC.
Tour of the Capitol
Parker at the office of Senator Bernie Sanders
Morning Meeting in Lafayette Park across from the White House
Aran, Margot and Zoe, on the Mall
Margot at the National Air and Space Museum
John, C and Evan in the Metro station
Below the National Gallery of Art (photo by Zoe)
Zoe
Brendan and Jacquie on the steps of the Supreme Court
Bill and Brendan at the Nationals game.
Following the trip, the students created an anthology of writing about their experiences and presented a slide show to the school community. Eliot commented, “I feel that the trip helped me gain independence and confidence. The most interesting parts of the trip were the Natural History Museum, the Holocaust Museum and the Lincoln Memorial." For Evan, his experience at the Lincoln Memorial stood out as well. He wrote, “It looked so sturdy and old that you would think it was a monument to a god or something. It felt as if the weight of the Civil War was pressing down on my shoulders, just as it did to Lincoln.”
Adrian stated that, “Traveling with my class is probably my favorite thing to do. You learn so much more … than if you just read about it in a textbook. Your experience is raw and unfiltered.”
