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Eighth-graders visit Washington, D.C. and New York City
July 8, 2009
By Laura Geggel
By Laura Geggel
After studying American civics her eighth-grade year, Danielle Burns knew all about her government’s system of checks and balances, constitution and Bill of Rights.
But nothing prepared her for the view from atop the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C.
“You’re just so high and you can see everything,” Burns said.
Burns joined 25 eighth-graders from Chief Kanim Middle School, Snoqualmie Middle School and Twin Falls Middle School for a five-day trip to the nation’s capital and the Big Apple June 24-29.
Snoqualmie Middle School Music Director Dean Snavely has offered this trip for 11 years and has accompanied anywhere from four to 60 students to the East coast. Snoqualmie Middle School eighth-grade social studies teacher Tom Burford helped lead the trip with Snavely and several chaperones.
“One of the reasons we like to do eighth grade is the kids have short attention spans and they can go through the trip quickly,” Snavely said.
The students whizzed through both cities, starting out with 3.5 days of touring Washington, D.C. They visited awe-inspiring white marbled memorials, including the Lincoln, Jefferson and World War II. Always on the go, they took a tour of the Capitol Building, visited Arlington National Cemetery, took pictures at Mount Vernon and walked through three of the Smithsonian museums.
To take a break, the group sat down at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum to see “Night at the Museum: Battle at the Smithsonian,” which just happened to be filmed in that very museum.
Snavely’s favorite part happened at the expense of some of his students. Every year, the group hires the same bus driver to cart them around the capital. As the group neared the Washington Monument, the bus driver pointed out how the off-white bricks on the bottom of the monument didn’t quite match the white bricks on top. Using a completely serious voice, the driver then told the students a slight historical deviation.
“The bus driver told the kids the reason that there’s different stones is that they have to lower it every night so the airplanes won’t hit it,” Snavely remembered. “This year, we had an exceptionally gullible group of kids. They ate it hook, line and sinker.”
In fact, the monument has different colored bricks because the events surrounding the American Civil War interrupted its construction and its marble was quarried from several different locations.
The students happily ascended the Washington Monument’s 555-foot tall tower. On the way down, the guards pushed the entire group into one elevator.
“One of the girls said, ‘So at what time do you lower the monument?’” Snavely said.
The students turned to the attendant, awaiting his answer.
“He just said, ‘we never lower the monument. You can’t lower the monument,’” Snavely said. “We got it on video.”
Next, the students took a bus to New York City. The Snoqualmie Valley group perused Fifth Avenue, FAO Schwarz, Tiffany’s, Trump Tower and Rockefeller Center. They saw “The Phantom of the Opera,” and got their photo taken in Times Square amid the blazing city lights.
“It was absolutely shoulder to shoulder,” Snavely said. “It was a little unnerving dragging nearly 30 kids through Times Square in the middle of the night, but the kids were great.”
They also visited Ellis Island, Liberty Island and the 911 Memorial.
“Seeing Ground Zero was amazing for the kids because most of them realize what Ground Zero is about and the impact it has on the country,” chaperone Steve Burns said.
Snavely and Burford are already planning next year’s Washington, D.C. vacation. They plan to extend the trip to six days and visit Williamsburg and Jamestown, instead of New York.
“In Williamsburg, everybody in town is in costume,” Snavely said. “Ben Franklin will be sitting on a bench and you can talk with him about kites.”
To sign up for the Snoqualmie Middle School 2010 trip, pick up a form at any of the three middle schools or call Worldstrides at 1-800-999-7676. The cost is about $2,000 per student.
Reach reporter Laura Geggel at 392-6434 .221 or lgeggel@snovalleystar.com. To comment on this story, visit www.snovalleystar.com.
After studying American civics her eighth-grade year, Danielle Burns knew all about her government’s system of checks and balances, constitution and Bill of Rights.
But nothing prepared her for the view from atop the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C.
“You’re just so high and you can see everything,” Burns said.
Burns joined 25 eighth-graders from Chief Kanim Middle School, Snoqualmie Middle School and Twin Falls Middle School for a five-day trip to the nation’s capital and the Big Apple June 24-29.
Snoqualmie Middle School Music Director Dean Snavely has offered this trip for 11 years and has accompanied anywhere from four to 60 students to the East coast. Snoqualmie Middle School eighth-grade social studies teacher Tom Burford helped lead the trip with Snavely and several chaperones.
“One of the reasons we like to do eighth grade is the kids have short attention spans and they can go through the trip quickly,” Snavely said.
The students whizzed through both cities, starting out with 3.5 days of touring Washington, D.C. They visited awe-inspiring white marbled memorials, including the Lincoln, Jefferson and World War II. Always on the go, they took a tour of the Capitol Building, visited Arlington National Cemetery, took pictures at Mount Vernon and walked through three of the Smithsonian museums.
To take a break, the group sat down at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum to see “Night at the Museum: Battle at the Smithsonian,” which just happened to be filmed in that very museum.
Snavely’s favorite part happened at the expense of some of his students. Every year, the group hires the same bus driver to cart them around the capital. As the group neared the Washington Monument, the bus driver pointed out how the off-white bricks on the bottom of the monument didn’t quite match the white bricks on top. Using a completely serious voice, the driver then told the students a slight historical deviation.
“The bus driver told the kids the reason that there’s different stones is that they have to lower it every night so the airplanes won’t hit it,” Snavely remembered. “This year, we had an exceptionally gullible group of kids. They ate it hook, line and sinker.”
In fact, the monument has different colored bricks because the events surrounding the American Civil War interrupted its construction and its marble was quarried from several different locations.
The students happily ascended the Washington Monument’s 555-foot tall tower. On the way down, the guards pushed the entire group into one elevator.
“One of the girls said, ‘So at what time do you lower the monument?’” Snavely said.
The students turned to the attendant, awaiting his answer.
“He just said, ‘we never lower the monument. You can’t lower the monument,’” Snavely said. “We got it on video.”
Next, the students took a bus to New York City. The Snoqualmie Valley group perused Fifth Avenue, FAO Schwarz, Tiffany’s, Trump Tower and Rockefeller Center. They saw “The Phantom of the Opera,” and got their photo taken in Times Square amid the blazing city lights.
“It was absolutely shoulder to shoulder,” Snavely said. “It was a little unnerving dragging nearly 30 kids through Times Square in the middle of the night, but the kids were great.”
They also visited Ellis Island, Liberty Island and the 911 Memorial.
“Seeing Ground Zero was amazing for the kids because most of them realize what Ground Zero is about and the impact it has on the country,” chaperone Steve Burns said.
Snavely and Burford are already planning next year’s Washington, D.C. vacation. They plan to extend the trip to six days and visit Williamsburg and Jamestown, instead of New York.
“In Williamsburg, everybody in town is in costume,” Snavely said. “Ben Franklin will be sitting on a bench and you can talk with him about kites.”
To sign up for the Snoqualmie Middle School 2010 trip, pick up a form at any of the three middle schools or call Worldstrides at 1-800-999-7676. The cost is about $2,000 per student.
Reach reporter Laura Geggel at 392-6434 .221 or lgeggel@snovalleystar.com.
Written by Laura Geggel · Filed Under Schools
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