On the Road Again

On the road again...The start of our third day shows a very tired girls' bus.  Yesterday we walked until we almost dropped, so the bus is very quiet this morning on our way to Mt. Vernon.

The Tomb of the Unknowns

The Tomb of the Unknowns - What an emotional experience!  Students were in awe of these sentinels in charge of guarding the Tomb 24 hours a day.  Everything these men do is precise and with a purpose.  Our group got to watch the Changing of the Guard in addition to the wreath presentation.  The guards change every half hour in the summer.

The wreath laying ceremony was something to experience.  Ethan and Sarah got to go down to visit where the sentinels live under the tomb.  We then received special instructions on what to do.  The guard will call attention to the 600+ people watching the presentation and explain how dignified the ceremony is.  The guard introduces Everts MS and the wreath laying party is escorted down the steps in sync with the cadence of the accompanying guard.  Ethan and Sarah got to present the wreath, the soldier played Taps on the trumpet, and the group was led back up the steps by the guard.  The ceremony might seem simple but it was powerfully symbolic.

(Mr. B is shown giving advice to Ethan and Sarah before the wreath presentation in the pic below.) 

Arlington National Cemetery

Arlington National Cemetery - Once the students walked into the cemetery, they immediately sensed the prestige that a burial in the cemetery constitutes.  We walked around quite a bit and noticed the various markings on the tombstones, such as a gold imprinted tombstone meant the soldier had been awarded the Medal of Honor.  We also visited the Kennedy gravesite.  Students' faces showed a somberness out of great respect for one of our lost leaders.  This reaction showed that the eighth graders were gaining great maturity through this life experience.

O-H-I-O

We were excited to hear that the levy passed and we would be starting on new school buildings.  This class of eighth graders would probably be the first class to graduate from the new high school.  We first heard this great news while we were eating lunch outside The Smithsonian Museum of Art.  Later we returned to this location for a celebratory O-H-I-O photo.  It was fun to hear other Buckeye fans respond I-O to our O-H!  People across the street in the National Mall area even couldn't resist the Buckeye shout out.

American History Museum

Smithsonian American History Museum - This was our next stop.  This museum was so huge that we could have stayed all day.  One of the coolest parts of the museum was the pop culture section.  This section included artifacts from movies, television, and sports.  Favorite exhibits shown in the pictures include: Kermit the Frog, Fonzy's leather jacket from Happy Days, and Archie Bunker's chair.  Although I am sure that many students have not watched these shows it might be a conversational piece for parents to discuss what was popular when they were growing up.

Natural History Museum

Smithsonian Natural History Museum - We spent time this afternoon at the various Smithsonian museums.  The dinosaur exhibition was unreal.  The ability to see a T-Rex, Stegosaurus, and a Tricerotops in person was very eye-opening.  It was also interesting to see the archaeologists work in the lab meticulouly cleaning a T-Rex foot bone that had been excavated from Montana.
  

Capitol Hill

What a busy day!  We started our day at the Capitol.  Students walked through the Exhibition Gallery to view various documents on display and models of Capitol Hill throughout time.  We then went on a guided tour of the Capitol building  that took us through the rotunda and the statue hall.  Students stood in awe of the grandeur of the rotunda.  The painted ceiling has a 3-D effect that is made from painted plaster.