Reflections of a Trip

Thursday April 1, 2010
Today was amazing! That’s all I can say about our first day in D.C! We started very early again, up at 6:15 for breakfast at 7 and then we were off. The morning was the time for some of the memorials. We went to the Teddy Roosevelt Memorial, the Franklin Roosevelt Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, and Arlington National Cemetery. Since Teddy was kind of an outdoorsy person and liked to explore, his memorial was on a little island. You had to walk across a bridge to get there then through this nature trail to get to the statue. FDR was gorgeous! All the cherry trees were in bloom around this giant pond and the Washington Monument was directly across. What great scenery. At the Jefferson Memorial there was a huge statue of him in the middle of the memorial. There were quotes on the walls of things that Jefferson said. It was pretty interesting to look at. The cemetery was so beautiful with all the cherry trees in bloom and all the stones in line, yet it was so sad to think of all the people and families that lie there.
After all the memorial touring in the morning, we went to the National Zoo! It was a beautiful day, clear sky, a few nice white puffy clouds, and the sun was out all day. It was about 85 degrees that day, a bit of a change for us Vermonters! A good amount of us got sun burn, including me. The animals were fun to see though, despite the heat. But all the walking in the morning and at the zoo tired us out and we were all thankful to be sitting on the bus in the air conditioning. After the zoo it was dinner time! We went to the Old Post Office to eat at the food court. When we finished dinner it was time for our night tour! It was a on and off bus tour with a guy named John, he was very cool! We went to the Korean War Memorial and the World War II, as well as the White House and Washington Monument. The White House was very cool to see! Some of us thought it would be a bit bigger but all the stories and history around it was interesting to hear. At the Washington Monument we had a fantastic view of the Capital which was all lit up. The Washington Monument concluded our first day in D.C. I am extremely tired, as all of us are, and it is nice to be heading back to the hotel for round two tomorrow! Very exciting!

Friday April 2, 2010
Today was equally as awesome! It started off early again, but we all lived! We had breakfast at the ESPN Zone and it was delicious. The ESPN Zone place was very cool though. They had the tv’s on with the highlights running. One of the highlights was of Marcus Blakely, on the UVM boys basketball team, winning the dunking contest. We had some time after we ate to go and explore downstairs in the arcade. It was the best arcade I have seen with so many games and different activities. One of my favorites that I did was this roller coaster simulator where you lied down on this chair and it moved and shook the chair a bit like you were on a roller coaster. Though it wasn’t like the real thing, it was still fun. There were other games like that as well like white water rafting where you had to actually steer and paddle. Then we had to leave, but we went shopping at the little Washington D.C. t-shirt and souvenir shops for a little while. After that came the Lincoln Memorial. That is one of my favorites because it has his Gettysburg Address on the wall and it has the spot where MLK stood to give his “I have a Dream…” speech. Also it was where Jenny and Forrest saw each other again in the Forrest Gump movie! We also went to the Vietnam War Memorial. It was very sad to see all the names engraved on the wall. There was just so many. There could easily have been several hundred names on each section. Seeing all these war memorials really makes you think about the people of our country. I know it made me think. It is honoring to see all the names of the people that died for our country.
Now it was time for the museums! There are some amazing museums in Washington D.C. The first one we went was the Newseum. It was a great place about how reporters covered stories and it had the things and people they covered from many, many years ago, to very recently. The most moving thing there was the section about 9/11. There was a piece of art made of the metals and ruble from Ground Zero. There were so many news papers and pictures around it on this awful event. I also was a movie on 9/11 but it was about the reporters there and there real footage and live accounts of what they saw there. It also talked about people running for their lives and people jumping from the Twin Towers, all caught on tape. We had a pizza lunch at the Newseum and went on a Capitol tour. The Capitol was beautiful with all the nice stone and the detail, but inside was even better. There was marble everywhere with statues. The tour started with a movie about our history of government going all the way back to when our country was founded. The main room, which is also the very center of the city, was absolutely stunning. There was a painting at the top in memory of George Washington, and the ceiling was somewhere around 9 million pounds, made from cast iron. There was a ring of metal engravings around the ceiling as well starting at Christopher Columbus and ending with the Wright Brothers. While in the capitol we saw the old Supreme Court room and the place where John Adams desk was. We also saw a piece of Vermont at the capital because there was a statue of Ethan Allen. One very cool thing we saw was the footprints of the “Demon Cat.” There is a myth that a black cat from when the capital was first built still roams the halls but is only seen when something terrible is going to happen. The footprints are sent in stone very lightly, but visible and you can feel them. They are only in one spot though, they start and end mysteriously.
Later we went some of the Smithsonian. We went to the Museum of American History and the Air and Space Museum. They were both very cool. Dinner came next at the Grand Station and we met up with our tour guide John again. While on tour with him we saw the current Supreme Court and the Library of Congress, as well as the Marine Corps Memorial and Kennedy Center. The last thing we did was see the Air Force Memorial that was very nice. It was so tall! It is about 10:30 now and I am ready for bed! These two days have been so great. I am glad I had this experience!

-Kara

Day 2

Hello, from the Washington National Zoo! We arrived here about two and a half hours earlier, and are now leaving. And let me tell you, it is so warm out! I am sweating so much! Guess what the temperature is??!! 82 degrees out! We just got back on the bus and now they turn on the air conditioning! It makes you wish it was summer out in Vermont! There was a lot of animals there. Pandas, Cheetahs, Gazelles, Meerkats, and others. My favorite would have to be the Pandas or Meerkats! They were really cute! I also made a stop at the Gift Shop. And bought a couple of things!! ;) That was pretty fun too. Today was a jam packed day, and I'm pretty tired! We started off in the morning by going to a Teddy Roosevelt memorial. And it was really pretty there. With all the blossom trees and such. We all then traveled to the Jefferson memorial. And it was huge inside! It was shaped like a dome, with writing carved into the walls, and Jefferson standing in the middle of it! After we were done there, we went to the Roosevelt Island, where we all took an 8th grade picture. Then we went to the Arlington National Cemetery. It was actually pretty incredible there! There were so many white graves and white blossom trees everywhere. When we were there, we climbed up a path to the Tomb of the Unknown solders. And watched a short program. And finally we ended up at the zoo. Which turned out to be really fun! Especially since we got the freedom to go anywhere in the zoo by ourselves. I'm not sure were we are going now. But it might take awhile, since the traffic is pretty bad! Thats about it for now!

- Samantha

First Post, Trip 2010!

Today was a very long and exciting day. It started with an arrival to school at 6:15 am and continued with a 7 am departure. The long part was the bus ride. 12 hours on a bus with ton of other kids. As crazy as that sounds, it was a lot of fun. We were a really excited and pretty energized at school and then the first hour on the bus, but then most of us kind of crashed. We took a couple naps and made and impromptu stop before we started watching a bunch of movies. The group had lunch and a couple of stops before we saw signs of the city. We were all very happy to see some of the monuments across the river because it meant that we were close to Washington D.C. One of the most “interesting activities” some of us, including me, had today was the bathroom on the bus. While it was funny to watch others have to use it, you definitely were not laughing when you had to use it =]. At about 7 o'clock we arrived at The Old Country Buffet and had a world of food. Yummy! Now all three buses are headed to the hotel FINALLY! Now we can just relax and get a good night sleep for tomorrows fun filled day beginning bright and early at 6:15am. I can't wait for tomorrow!

- Kara

More Thoughts

There's quite a long bus ride ahead of us. It looks kinda gray on either side but there are trees everywhere instead of big, tall buildings. It's starting to look like Vermont out there. Mountains on both sides and, gasp, grass. No one can deny that the city of D. C. is a beautiful one, but it's nice to be heading home. This trip was a great little break from regular life, sort of a delve into the history and structure of our nation, though it will feel good to get back to normal. You know, except maybe for school on Monday.
We got to see things first hand, the things we'd only read about before or seen pictures of. We got to shake hands with our elected congressmen and tour the capitol where they work. We got to cruise the Potomac and see the Smithsonian Museum of American History and walk through Journalism's history at the Newseum. In two days we were able to see the White House and the Library of Congress. Who knows how our teachers were able to organize it, but they did. It's amazing that so many things that mean so much to our country are in just one city, and we got to go there and see them. Those of you reading this have probably read all the other entries that everyone has made, I haven't had the pleasure, but I do know that everyone I've talked to has had a wonderful time in these last few days. The general consensus: It was well worth it.

You've probably read all about the things we've done and the places we've seen and the facts we've been soaking in since we first stepped onto the bus Thursday morning. This is the overall report. I have learned so much in Washington this year and even though my feet hurt and I have a fun-fact mental overload, I would do it all over again in a second. Not many of us EMS eighth graders will grow up and choose to work directly for the government. Not all of us will become senators (we've only got room for two) or Secretaries of the Treasury or whatnot, but the thing about democracy is that if there's going to be a voice of the people then the people need to know what they are talking about. EMS might not produce all the future government operatives and political masterminds, but it will produce students who know who it is that guides them. That know where their voice comes from and where it's going. That know how to use it and how it works. That know their rights and their duties. It's said that the greatest job of a generation of Americans is to educate the next in the ways of the government so that the ideals and workings of democracy can be carried on. Is it not the purpose of our teachers to prepare us for the world we're stepping into once we graduate high school and for our government, one that is “of the people, for the people and by the people?” I would have to say they're doing a pretty good job at it with this trip.

We got to stand where the president stood, and see the inside of the dome that represents the freedom of our nation. The trip might have been short, and the journey long, but I hope that they do it next year and again every year. You cannot trade a building and a painting for a picture in a textbook. You cannot trade a museum for a movie.

I am supposed to be blogging about the trip we took, how it went. I'd have to say it went well. I'd have to say I had fun. And of course, I've learned a lot. So thanks to all the teachers and parents that made this possible and to all of the tour guides and bus drivers and businesses who have all contributed to this. It seems to me like Essex Middle School had a good time.
Sossina and Sarah

More Reflections from the road

I can't believe the DC trip is actually over. We've been so busy that the 3 days have just been eaten away. Last night was a great way to finish the trip, as we got to go on a cruise for a few hours. We got to eat some great food and dance to some awesome music-- even the teachers danced with us! The upper deck of the cruise boat had a great view of DC. After we docked, it looked like everybody was pretty tired, so we made one more stop at the White House to take a couple pictures, and then we hit the hay at the hotel. The DC trip was great!-Mike

Heading Home

We are now on our way home. Students will be calling home to give you and estimated time of arrival. We had a great time!

Reflections of a student blogger

Day 1

This morning was hectic and exhausting at first, but as the day went on it got better and better. On the bus ride there was a lot of commotion and excitement, along with snoring and the flashing of cameras. The first rest stop in New York was where we got lunch. The rest stop was full of people from all over, assorted trinkets, trash, and most importantly food. When we finally arrived in D.C. the mood of the bus completely changed. Everyone on the bus perked up and the noise level rose tremendously. Once in D.C. we went to the Old Country Buffet for dinner. The Buffet had okay food, but a great ice-cream station that we all got the opportunity to use. Finally after a very long day of traveling we arrived at the hotel, the place where my two other roommates, Sianay and Liz and I stayed up talking for hours.

Day 2

After getting a good solid 5 hours of sleep I woke up to the sound of my chaperoned knocking on the door at 6:15 am. When we were finally ready for the day my roommates and I went down to breakfast which consisted of yogurt, fruit, bagels, and of course muffins. Once we finished breakfast it was time to start touring. Our first stop was the Jefferson Memorial where we took pictures, talked, and had fun. One thing that really sticks out in my mind was the building itself and how it had so many different quotes and inscriptions on the walls. After that we then went to the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial. When we were there we had a photo shoot, admired sculptures, and gazed at the waterfalls. One piece at the memorial that really stays in my head are the words “I hate war”, which were inscribed on walls and rocks. The next place that we went to was the Arlington National Cemetery. Here we saw rows among rows among rows of gravestones. The weather matched the atmosphere of the cemetery; dreary, cold, and haunting. Once we walked through the cemetery it was onto the zoo where we ate lunch and walked around. The zoo was very tiresome but also very exciting. We saw many endangered species along with other unique and very smelly zoo animals. Once dinner finally rolled around we went to the Old Post Office where the food was good. Finally the main highlight of my day strolled around, the tour. On the tour we went all over the city but the main site that I really remember was the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts where I took pictures and leaped on the terrace. Our day was also made up of many other things as well such as meeting our state senators and representative, walking around and exploring the city, and much more. To sum it all up I had a great and fantastic day.

Day 3

As usual today we again had a very fun day. This morning we went to ESPN Zone where we ate a delicious breakfast and talked with friends. After that we walked around and shopped for a while in the pouring rain. So kids bought things from the Hard Rock and others just bought things off of street vendors. Once all that was done we went to the new addition to the D.C. family, the Newseum. The Newseum is a museum dedicated to journalism and how it shapes our world and how we live. The thing that amazed me and also saddened me was seeing the actual bar stools from sit-ins which were a very big part of the Civil Rights activists to have equal rights for blacks in America. The Newseum had an amazing view of the National Mall and Pennsylvania Avenue. From the Newseum we went to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum to have lunch at McDonalds. After that we raced off to the Capitol Building where we broke off into groups. We watched a short video explaining the history of the building and the origins of Congress. We then met up with our tour guide who took us up through the statuary hall and the crypt. The capitol building I must say was definitely my favorite part of the day because of the gorgeous architecture, amazing sculptures and statues, and breath-taking artwork. After touring all day we then went onto a dinner cruise where everyone, including the teachers, had a great and exciting time. That being our last day in D.C. it sort of made me sad, but at the same time I was glad to be going home. Overall the trip was a great success and I am really glad I had the opportunity to go.-LJ