Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Day 1 

When we got into Washington D.C. we went to three of the museums at the Smithsonain; the Native American Indian, Air and Space and the National Gallery.  The Native American Indian exhibits were very interesting and we learned quite a lot about the culture.  There was an abundance of pottery.  Basket weaving was also popular at the museum.  We learned about the Native American Indian's religion and how the colonists affected their lives.  In the Air and Space Museum we saw the Wright Brothers' plane.  We saw the engine of Saturn 5 and a lot of model rockets.  The Spirt of St. Louis was also in the museum.  The flight simualtor was fun but it was really hard to drive it.  We then went to the National Gallery.  There were modern paintings, old English paintings, and even some French too.  The museum was huge.  There was also a room filled with the presidents' pictures.  There was a huge fountain in the middle of the museum.  Statues were all over the place too.  These three museums were tons of fun!

- Gillian Murphy

We arrived at the Holocaust Museum in the late afternoon.  We only viewed an exhibit called "Daniel's Story".  It told the story of a young Jewish boy who was taken to a concentration camp.  He lived a normal life and had many friends.  Then things started to change.  The Nazis started taking over and Daniel and his family were shunned because they were Jewish.  Their synaguage was burned down and their store was destroyed.  Daniel's family was moved to a ghetto and then to Aushwichz.  Daniel's sister Erika and his mother were seperated from Daniel and his father.  They never saw them again.  Daniel lost his diary, but the memories he has of the Holocaust are still vivid in his mind.  We need to remember those who were in the Holocaust.

- Laura Miller

We went to the Thomas Jefferson Memorial.  It was built on an area that was once covered by water.  Now, however, it's built by a tidal pool which flows into the Potomac River.  Once we went inside we saw the bronze statue of Thomas Jefferson.  It is 19 feet tall!  And on the walls were some of his most famous quotes carved in the marbel.  I thought the memorial was cool and a good way to remember and honor our third president.

- Shannon Russo

One of the last memorials the 8th grade saw on Day 1 of the trip was the FDR Memorial.  Though Franklin Delanore Roosevelt's wish was to have a memorial the size of his oval office desk, this memorial was much longer.  The memorial consists of 4 outdoor rooms, each one symbolizing FDR's four terms in office.  We took a careful look at the waterfalls and statues, symbolizng the problems he faced in each of his terms.  Even though the memorial is contriversail with FDR's statue dipicting him in a wheel chair, it was a great memorial.  The 8th grade took many great pictures.

- Troy O'Neil