The 8th grade trip to Washington, D.C. is one of the highlights for many St. John’s students! Students and chaperones are able to dive deeper into the history of the United States through touring museums, observing memorials, and walking on historic battlegrounds. This year, 8th grade teacher Al Dutcher took his class of 11 students and 5 chaperones to visit historic sites all over Washington, D.C. Read about the amazing experiences this trip provided our 8th graders below!
 
Trip Recap
We had an early start to our four day trip which began on Monday, September 17th and we hit the ground running the moment we arrived. First was touring the inner harbor of Baltimore where we saw The Constellation Ship and even heard a cannon fire from it. We also saw the Baltimore World Trade Center and a memorial honoring the lives lost during the attacks of people from Maryland. From there it was on to a full day at Gettysburg touring the museum, watching a film, seeing the Cyclorama and going on an amazing battlefield tour. Our tour guide, Ray, was full of knowledge and taught us more than we could have imagined. We enjoyed a buffet dinner before heading back to our hotel for some much needed rest.
 
On day two, we did and saw a lot! Our morning started off as a wet and rainy one at Arlington National Cemetery. We had the amazing experience of watching the Secretary of Defense from Norway lay a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and also the changing of the guard before our very own wreath laying ceremony. Honestly, words can’t describe what it was like to observe such a ceremony. Our very own students did a fantastic job and made us all proud as they laid our wreath on the tomb. We were all moved by the entire experience. We also saw the Pentagon Memorial, Mount Vernon where George Washington lived, The White House, Washington Monument, WWII Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, FDR Memorial, MLK Memorial and Iwo Jima memorial.
 
On day 3 we started off with visiting the Korean Memorial and laying a wreath in honor and memory of Dale Kohman, who was a member of St. John’s and veteran of the Korean War. We continued on to the Lincoln Memorial and saw where MLK stood when he gave his famous “I Have A Dream” speech. Afterwards, we went to the Vietnam Memorial where each student did a name rubbing of two soldiers found along the engraved wall. We also visited the National Cathedral, the US Capitol, The National Archives building, the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, and the JFK Center for the Performing Arts. It’s been another incredible day.
 
Our last day was spent visiting the Air Force Memorial, Ford’s Theater, The Law Enforcement Memorial, The Holocaust Museum as well as the Air and Space and American History Museum. The trip was incredible and these kids did a fantastic job representing St. John’s and showing Christ to others through their words and actions. In Mr. Dutcher’s words…”God is good,everyday…and everyday, God is good.”