The best theme for this trip may be summed up as "learning happens". Classrooms are great places to talk about the outside world but there is nothing quite like stepping into the places we talk about and experiencing them. Standing in the place where Pickett's division prepared to make their deadly charge, shooting hoops on the same court Jim Thorpe played, walking among the crowds listening to an array of languages in New York, sitting in the front row at a Broadway play, and riding subways in Washington and New York all bring forth learning in a way that will last so much longer than anything we read in a textbook.

This trip was also about seeing possibilities and making things happen. My role in this journey was to plan events, coordinate reservations, manage the budget, and keep everyone safe. The class came up with the idea, raised the money and convinced those that needed convinced that we should do this. They gave up a Senior Trip. Although, knowing this group, they may go back into fund raising mode and still manage a Senior trip next year. In 20 years of teaching, I haven't known many groups who could organize themselves and pull something like this off. Their behavior on the entire trip was exemplary and their ability to put aside their individual wants and needs and focus on the group needs was both remarkable and part of what made our experience a success.

To all of you who made this journey and to all who followed us in spirit, it is my hope that you see this not as the trip of a lifetime but the beginning of a lifetime of trips. On behalf of the group, I want to thank everyone who helped make this adventure possible. I also want to publicly thank Barbara Landis of the Cumberland County Historical Society for the great tour of the Carlisle Indian School campus as well as for her work keeping this part of our history alive.
-Mr. Lang-

WE ARE HOME!
The trip went well and we all made it with all of our luggage and souvenirs.
We had a little difficulty in Baltimore when we found out that snow globes have too much water in them to take on the plane. We had to talk security into taking them out of the garbage and then we talked the airline into checking in a backpack with snow globes wrapped in tee shirts and then we had to get back through security. Luckily we had arrived with enough time for this. The plane ride to Minneapolis was very bumpy as we were flying through a large storm front. The rest of the ride was smooth sailing. Janna and various other relatives and friends met us at the airport for the last leg home. Thank you all for your support. We enjoyed the comments left on our blog. Mrs.L.

Welcome to Donovan's peepzone again.
Since today was Friday and practically the last day of the Jr. trip I would like to say that it has been a GREAT week and that I had most definitely had fun. Also I would like to say that I would like to come back here to the East again sometime in my life. Well anyway for Friday I thought it was a good way to end the whole trip because it was a little easy. We didn't have to look at the clock constantly for a planned event, and we didn't do much walking. It's hard to believe that just last week that we all took the A.P. U.S. History Exam and that a couple months ago we talked about doing this trip. To whoever is reading this I hope you at least enjoyed reading the blogs we made....personally I wouldn't blame you if you were bored but at least you took the time to read the blogs we made. Donovan (Picture taken at the Fredricksburg Cemetery. Mrs. L.)

Well it's the end of our very fun trip. It was definitely a fun experience that I will remember for the rest of my life. Today we woke up ate breakfast and headed to "The Awakening" (a statue in the sand at National Harbor) which was very cool. I did break my camera there, sorry grandma. Next we went to Fredricksburg which was another civil war battlefield. It was cool because they had a house that still had bullet holes from the battle. One thing that really caught my eye was the graveyard. There were graves that they berried up to six bodies in one and there were a thousand plus graves and most held from one to six bodies. After that we went to Stonewall Jackson's shrine which was the house where Stonewall Jackson died. They still had the blanket, bed frame, and the clock that was there when Stonewall died. Then we went to one more spot where there was a rock that showed where Stonewall Jackson was first wounded before he died. After that we hit the road and tomorrow we will be catching a plane back home. Dallas

Last night, the 14th, we all caught the subway near our motel in DC. When we got off the subway station we went on the longest escalator in America to get up to street level. Then we went out to eat at the same place that President Obama ate, but when we got there, it had a big line so we decided to go to another place down the street. That place ended up being out of the budget since the pizza cost around 14 dollars for each person so we had to leave from there as well. We went to Dominoes across the street. But while we were waiting for the pizza it started raining, but it was warm, which that weather was new to me. The pizza was good but very greasy. We ate it out on the sidewalk in front of a Quiznos that had some metal chairs and tables. Some other people in the class didn't like the rain that much until it started to thunder and lighting. It was awesome. So when we all got done eating we headed back to the subway station to go back to the hotel. While we were walking all of us got soaked. But we didn't mind much since we all had a good night. And none of us were complaining anymore and just wanted to go and get some rest for the 15th. And if anyone was wondering about the picture on the right it was taken when the class was in Gettysburg. Judy

When my mom was 16 she went to D.C. and she went to the statue "The Awakening". Now, 24 years later I'm in D.C., and got to go to the same statue. When I left for out trip she told me we needed to go to this statue, so Mr. and Mrs. L. took us. I've seen pictures of my mom in the statue's mouth and I thought that it was bigger, but I forgot that she was a 80 lb 16 year old and I'm far from that, so the statue doesn't look as big when I'm next to it. Last night when I was talking to my mom, she was all excited about me going to the same place she was when she was my age, So she sent me a picture of her in the statues mouth, and said I have to take one just like hers. When I got to the statue I realized I was too big to be inside its mouth like my moms picture. The mouth was full of water from the storm the night before, so my picture is different, my feet are inside the mouth just far enough so they don't get soaked, and I had to sit on the lips. 24 years ago my mom took a picture inside "The Awakening" mouth, and today so did I, and I can't wait to show it to her :) Nikki (The statue had been moved from the National Mall to National Harbor and we had to look it up on the internet to find it. Mrs. L)

Boy were our feet tired after a day of visiting monuments and two museums. The Vietnam Memorial, "The Wall", was very moving. My favorite part of the day was the Lincoln exhibit at the Smithsonian. His top hat was there. He must have really stood out at 6 foot 4 with a top hat. Mary Todd Lincoln was a full foot shorter than Abe. They had in common intense, moody, and ambitious personalities and an abiding love for their family. That must have been interesting. Mrs. L.