Whitcomb & Rochester Students

Travel to Washington, D. C.

By Wendy Pratt

On Sunday night, April 6, 53 students and chaperones representing the Whitcomb and Rochester High Schools boarded a bus and traveled to Washington, D. C. to see the sights.

The group explored the city with great enthusiasm, bonding with our driver, Moses Knight, who showed us the beautiful cherry blossoms in full bloom. We started at Arlington National Cemetery and watched the changing of the guard ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. We were fortunate enough to partake in a special ceremony where four of our students participated in laying a wreath at the tomb.

We followed that with another event that our group was chosen for-a George Washington portrait ceremony at Mount Vernon. The school has been given a portrait of George Washington to hang in the hallway, along with a flag that was flown at Mount Vernon. We were all in awe at the sight of the memorials for Jefferson, FDR, Lincoln, the Korean and Vietnam Wars, and World War II.

We visited the White House and met for questions with Senators Sanders and Leahy on the steps of the Capitol. We had a tour of the Capitol given by the aides of the delegation. We experienced Union Station at lunch time and then went for an exciting ride up the elevator of the Washington Monument. We had a guided tour of the National Cathedral, followed by a stop to see the pandas at the National Zoo.

We went to the National Archives to see the Bill of Rights, Constitution, and Declaration of Independence and other original documents. We had a long wait for this one and the adults all decided that this was the one corner in the city that should have a Starbucks on it! We went to the Petersen House to see where Lincoln died, but were not able to get into Ford's Theater, as it is under construction.

We were able to experience all of this in three very full days. As the exhaustion set in, some got a little silly, but everyone had an incredible time. It was not only a great bonding experience for the two schools, but it brought the students out of the classroom and put them directly into our nation's capital for an incomparable hands-on educational experience.

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Martha 2