On April 23rd, the 8th graders departed from LAX to Washington Dulles Airport for their yearly trip to Washington D.C. This was the second year that the 8th grade class traveled to Washington D.C. The trip turned out to be a success because all the students had fun, met new friends from different states, and represented St. Philip proudly. Below will describe the itinerary the 8th graders followed while visiting different museums and memorials.

DAY 1

On April 24th, the class of 2016 landed safely at Washington Dulles Airport in Virginia. When we got to Holiday Inn Hotel, we dropped off our luggage and went to breakfast at McDonald’s. We then walked to the metro, which we took to the National Holocaust Museum where we learned about different events that occurred throughout the Holocaust.  After the Holocaust museum we went to the National Museum of the American Indian, where we had lunch and then watched a short movie in a Indian designed theater.

After visiting these museums, we walked around Washington D.C and took a photo in front of our nation’s capital. We then went back to the hotel where we ate dinner and visited the rest of the students that would join us throughout the trip. After having orientation, we met with our instructors that would be touring each group when traveling through D.C. At the end of the day, we finished our workshop, where we met new friends and talked about what we should expect to do the week of the trip.

DAY 2

The following day, we woke up and had a continental breakfast, that the hotel provided for the program. We then departed, on a bus, too the Thomas Jefferson Memorial, where we discussed the proper size and role of the government. After, we went to the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, where we explored the memorial and how it was divided into his terms as President. We then went to Lunch at the National Place before going to the steps of capitol pool for a program photo.

Since we were around Capitol Hill, we visited the Capitol and learned about the nation’s laws and visited the supreme court. After visiting Capitol Hill, we learned about America, and its wars because we visited the Korean and Vietnam Memorials. The Lincoln Memorial was also apart of learning about the wars of America because in our workshop groups we discussed his role in ending the American Civil War. After a full day of walking and visiting memorials, we went back to the hotel and held a mock congress with our workshop groups and discussed different bills that are pending to become laws.

DAY 3

On Tuesday, we went to the World War II Memorial where we discovered how citizen action makes a difference. At the World War II Memorial we were able to see veterans that fought in the war because they were visiting all together as a group. After, we went to the MLK Museum that was the newest memorial in D.C, where we learned about petition and protest. At the Smithsonian National Museum we had lunch and explored the museum and it’s American History. The next visit was one of the most exciting because we drove to The White House. At the White House we took photos and talked about different famous protests that occurred on the property but now is private. The 8th grade class then did a lot of walking when exploring the Arlington National Cemetery where we visited the tomb of the unknown soldier, JFK and Challenger Memorials and experience the changing of the guard. After dinner at the Pentagon City Mall, we went to the U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Air Force Memorials for a study visit. To wrap up the day was discussing our experience in a citizenship workshop with our groups and instructor.

DAY 4

On Wednesday, we had to wake up 1 hour earlier because we had to take a 3 hour bus ride to Williamsburg. Williamsburg, Virginia had people that dressed and spoke like they would in the 1800’s. While at Williamsburg we visited different historical events such as the invention of the printing press and the places where they made steel and tin items. After visiting Williamsburg with our workshop groups, we went to King’s Arms Tavern where we had a chicken pot pie and freshly churned ice cream. We then looked around with a program instructor that knows everything about Williamsburg and visited the Old Gaol, a jail, a trade shop, a gun storage place, and the county court. After our tour we went back on the bus to lunch at Union Station before returning to the hotel for our last workshop meeting with a citizenship sendoff.

DAY 5

As we ended our trip in D.C. we had an early breakfast and a set of departure day announcements. On our final day we traveled to the National Archives for exploration of our nation’s documents, photos, and records with our school. We all then went to the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum for lunch at McDonald’s. At the end of lunch we boarded our bus and went to Washington Dulles Airport for our departure back to LAX airport. We arrived back at school around 8:00 and met back with our families. The next day went to school and presented presentations for our parents and classmates about our trip to Washington D.C.