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Looking up at the Capitol Rotunda
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Students & faculty in front of the Capitol
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Lincoln at the Sumeet and Micah Monument
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Reflection of the National Archives Building
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Entrance of the space hanger at the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum
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The SR-71 blackbird
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The Arlington House a.k.a. the Robert E. Lee Memorial
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Springtime at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial
For their annual trip, 7th graders voyaged to the East Coast to Philadelphia and Washington DC over the first week of Spring Break to investigate the principles of American government. Faculty chaperones organized and managed the six day trip, aiming to provide interaction between the students and the multitude of governmental structures.
“It’s always a treat to see kids learning and having fun at the same time”, History and Social Studies Teacher George Gaskin said. “Visiting Independence Hall in Philadelphia and the Capitol in Washington, DC are highlights. This year, with the help of a parent, we were fortunate to meet with newly elected Senator. Adam Schiff. It was an honor to have one of California’s senators meet with our students.”
The trip offered numerous activities and sights for the students. They were able to explore the technological timelines of the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, and gaze upon the spectacle of the towering Washington Monument.
“When we started this trip, we wanted to give students the opportunity to visit the center of it all—Washington, DC”, Gaskin said. “For the past two years, we’ve added Philadelphia to the itinerary. There is so much history to learn in these cities, and one can’t help but have fun while doing it. Our goal is to make our American history and government course come alive on a trip that the students will never forget.”
For most 7th graders on the trip, it was their first time in Washington DC and the journey provided them with a variety of in-person interactions, something that a classroom cannot impart on a student. This successfully allowed them to gain deeper insights into the roots of their ongoing course: American Government and History.
“The whole trip helped me understand the structure of the government by seeing the real places and even meeting a senator”, Alice Anderson ’30 said. “It helps put a picture in your mind when you learn about it in class, and it makes it seem less abstract.”
