Washington D.C. 2024
– Mr. Brannan & the 8th Grade Chaperones
DAY ONE
Greetings from the nation’s capital where your 8th graders are most likely not sleeping even though their 8th grade chaperones knocked on each of their doors to let them know it’s lights out time. Oh well, if today’s any indicator, they can find reserves of energy and excitement despite a lack of sleep.
Now, onto the day’s recap:
Today’s arrival at WNS was eeeaaarrly! We don’t have to tell many of you parents that. You were there. Yet no one was late. Well done, everyone. Mr. Rothbart’s commute down the 405 this morning reminded him of his time driving on the freeway in Thousand Oaks during daytime hours.
Things at the airport continued to go smoothly with the proceedings only interrupted by a timeless WNS 8th grader on their way to DC question: “Will there be time to buy snacks?” and “When do we get our room assignments?” The latter question was naturally asked repeatedly throughout the day.
There was time to buy snacks, but barely. A group of 60 kids takes a long time to do anything, including effectively counting off for attendance purposes. For some reason, it’s one of the few occasions they think speaking loudly shouldn’t happen. However slow it was, we did make it to the plane on time for takeoff.
During the preflight safety instructions, as usual, many people on the plane were not paying attention and/or talking to each other. Some of our students were among them. Some of those students happened to be sitting right next to a flight attendant who was giving the safety demonstration. When she finished, she hit them with a pop quiz. Jack answered his question correctly. (How many exits are on this plane? Eight!) The others did not, and unfortunately for them, quiz corrections are not a policy honored by United Airlines.
In addition to being on a flight with another school group, we were surprised to find out that Mr. Rothbart’s aunt was also on our flight. Several of our students had the opportunity to meet her and see pictures of her dog Sadie.
As the plane accelerated down the runway, an overhead bin popped open in view of many of our students. No bags fell out initially, but they were rattling around precariously. A gentleman in the aisle unbuckled his seat belt and quickly pushed it closed. As he returned to his seat, many of our WNS kids gave him a round of applause. People who think it’s a bummer to fly in a plane with a large school group should really consider the upsides it can bring.
Now, as many of the kids looked up in advance, the plane had entertainment options. The bad news was that a device that could connect to WiFi was required to access these options. So, Mr. Brannan passed out their learning guides to give the kids something to do. Strangely, several kids tried to avoid having “something to do” by putting their hoods up or turning their heads away from him so he didn’t see them. Little did they know that he had heard Mr. Zacuto’s squiggly line and growth mindset talks even more than them. While he didn’t succeed at first in spotting each and every one of them, he persevered and within half an hour each kid had their learning guide and a pencil in their hand.
The rest of the flight went as planned, and we touched down at IAD ahead of schedule. After arriving at our hotel and checking in, we were taken up to the Monument Room for dinner, which oversees a gorgeous view of the Washington Monument, Jefferson Memorial, and the Capitol. Dinner was a buffet, consisting of a taco bar with salad, rice, fajita-style chicken, beef, and the fixins (salsa, sour cream, and cheese). With their option of water, lemonade, tea, and coffee. Of course we had to have a talk with them about caffeine and how it really was for their chaperones.
Student dinner remarks:
Karlo: “It reminded me of Taco Bell, which I’ve only had once…not too bad.”
John: “The shells were…***whispers*** stale…but I enjoyed it if I say so myself.”
Remi: “I thought they were giving us dessert.”
After dinner, students were broken into their day groups for an opening workshop to discuss the week’s itinerary and talk a little bit about actions of democracy and expectations of respect for themselves and others during their program.
We wrapped up our first night with a visit to the Pentagon 9/11 Monument. The solemnity of this site provided a powerful end to our first day, reminding us all of the significance of the many places we’ll be visiting this week.
As told by the students in the debrief at the end of the day, they felt they handled visiting the Pentagon 9/11 Memorial the best of everything they did. They were professional and demure. The only hiccup was while walking to the site, there was some construction that forced them to walk through the parking lot and down a road. Congregating with each other, they walked in a blob blocking some cars. It took an officer on a loud speaker blaring at them literally six times, “Move left!”, before the group actually cleared the pathway. This made all the teachers and Close Up staff feel pretty good as it proved that not even the Pentagon Security team could get them to first-time listen.
Back at the hotel, we held a brief school meeting to debrief the day and prepare for tomorrow. The students finally received their room keys and all of a sudden experienced a new wave of energy. They were so excited to be rooming with their friends that they left without their room keys.
Looking ahead to tomorrow, we have a full day planned, starting with the FDR Memorial, MLK, and Jefferson Memorials before lunch. After lunch we’ll visit the National Museum of African American History and Culture, visit the National Portrait Gallery, then explore Chinatown and grab dinner. After dinner, we’ll visit the Lincoln, Vietnam Veterans, and Korean War Memorial.
Stay tuned for more updates from our DC adventure!
Signed,
Your 8th Grade Chaperones
