JUPITER CHRISTIAN SCHOOL – R.E.A.C.H. Week is very important to JCS, and offers many different classes. I chose to go on the Washington DC trip because I thought it would be interesting and fun.
Bright and early on March 11th, our small group of 7th and 8th grade JCS students went on the bus and headed to the airport. After waiting awhile, we got on the plane and landed safely in Maryland. Then we got our bags and drove to DC. Our driver’s name was Steve and our tour guide’s name was Mrs. Debby. As soon as we arrived in DC, we headed right to our first attraction, which was Ford’s Theater. We learned that President Abraham Lincoln was killed by a man named John Wilkes Booth who shot him in the theatre on April 14, 1865 at 10:20 pm.
Our next stop was the room where the president died. After that we walked around for a while. Then all of a sudden we saw the White House which was pretty amazing, and we all took a ton of pictures. The first memorial that we saw was the United States Marine Corps War Memorial which was dedicated to all Marines who have given their lives in defense of our country. The next stop was the Washington Monument which honors our first president and the flags surrounding it represents our 50 states.
Our next attraction was Mount Vernon which was George Washington’s house. We took a tour of his house and learned some interesting facts. We had the privilege of gaining access to the J. Edgar Hoover FBI Building which was pretty cool. We headed to the Thomas Jefferson Memorial where we saw a statue of the late president. We drove to the Capital building where we met with our congressman, Brian Mast, who served in the Afghanistan War, and he spoke to us for awhile. We saw the Supreme Court and we headed to the Library of Congress where we saw Thomas Jefferson’s original collection of books, and we looked at the beautiful architecture and surrounding artwork throughout the building.
Next we saw the Lincoln Memorial which is a huge statue of the late president, and we learned some interesting facts. We were able to go to the Arlington National Cemetery which is the resting place of two US presidents and several Supreme Court Justices along with many military servicemen and women. We then saw the Smithsonian Institution which is the largest museum in the world, and we visited the air and space exhibit. Lastly, we saw the Declaration of Independence at the National Archives and some cherry blossoms in bloom.
It was a great trip and a memory that will last a lifetime.
