Today I leave for Washington, DC. It's been exhausting and way too busy getting ready for this, and trying to deal with a perfectly incompetent principal hellbent on harassing me. I can't wait to get on the plane and just relax. Never thought I'd look forward to a 5 hour flight, but it sounds lovely to me now.
Every year, my teaching partner and I fundraise, solicit donations, and just plain beg to raise money to take our students on this trip. California kids just have no idea of what our country was like 300 years ago. For that matter, they don't have any idea what our east coast life is like, either. This trip makes American history come alive for them in a way no teaching, pictures, or videos can do. The tour company we work with is just wonderful at making this trip easy to arrange and full of enriching activities for our 5th graders. Usually we're the only group of 5th graders in DC and the other areas. Having seen 8th graders (the usual group taken on this trip) run screaming around the Smithsonians, shouting obscenities at the Wall and at the Jefferson Memorial, etc., I am infinitely pleased that we take 5th graders, instead. They're still polite, and capable of awe. They look at DC with wonder in their eyes. I love watching them explore. We're gone a week, and we are on the run from breakfast at 7 am til we put them in their hotel rooms around 10 pm. (Bless our tour company ~ they provide a security guard from 10 pm til 5:30 am each night.) It's a packed week, and everyone walks miles and miles, but we have a grand time.
I keep promising myself that I'll come back to DC on my own, and take my time exploring it. I love that city, and we never have enough time there. I want more time in the Archives ~ the Public Vaults are amazing! I want to go inside the White House (but this president has 3 times declined our requests for a tour, so I guess I'll wait til we have a new president). I want to walk the streets, to get close to some of the amazing architecture in that city, and explore the microparks. I want to get over to Alexandria and just spend a day or two exploring it. (The ghost tour there is wonderful, for any age!)
Every year we go, we see something new on this trip. 3 years ago, we were just looking out the windows of the tour bus, on our way to Williamsburg, when we spotted giant heads of the presidents. Presidents Park! 18-20 foot sculptures of the heads of all of our presidents. Never knew it was there til we saw it. We just asked our tour company to take us to that place with the giant heads next trip, and they found it and booked us. One year, our guide took us to Ben's Chili Bowl, the place where Bill Cosby met his wife. The owners ship their chili all over the world to famous and not-so-famous folk. Another year, we discovered The Awakening ~ a giant, partially buried human sculpture. Each year, more of it is visible. The kids loved it. And then there was the Einstein Monument ~ he's one of my most admired folks, so it was great to see a statue of him. I got to sit in his lap for a picture. (Everybody else was just scattered all over him. It's a not-to-be-missed photo op!)
So, I leave in about 3 hours. We're taking the red eye, but at least it's a non-stop. Try herding 35 10 year olds through a plane change, and you'll understand why we appreciate non-stop flights. My teaching partner doesn't fly well, so I won't be getting any sleep on this trip. (She keeps telling me that if people aren't awake and believing the plane can fly, it won't!)
I'll have stories and pictures (finally!) to post when I get back. Or at least, after I get back and sleep for a day.
