Washington D.C. 2024
– Mr. Brannan & the 8th Grade Chaperones
DAY THREE
Another beautiful day in our nation’s capital means another beautiful continental breakfast, including eggs, potatoes, french toast, and sausage links. The students were very happy with the french toast. We were warned about temperatures going down into the 50s, which for us Angelenos means bundling up in some of our warmest clothing. While everyone was prepared for the colder weather, it does not conceal our tourist identity.
We stopped at the Air Force Memorial after breakfast. It honors the service and sacrifices of the men and women of the United States Air Force. The memorial’s most striking feature is its three stainless steel spires that soar skyward, which are designed to evoke the image of the bomb burst maneuver performed by Air Force Thunderbird pilots.
As we wandered through the memorial, Peyton S., Luna, Nini, Stella S., and Gabrielle tried to mimic the spire “bomb burst” formation to varying degrees of success. Other students admired the view from atop the hill where the memorial sits. From where we stood, we could stare down and see the Pentagon 9/11 Memorial where we were on our first night.
After leaving the Air Force Memorial, we went to Arlington National Cemetery, the most hallowed military burial ground in the US. It serves as the final resting place for more than 400,000 active duty service members, veterans, their families, and people who have performed a great service to the United States. The cemetery is home to the graves of numerous notable Americans, including Audie Murphy, John F. Kennedy and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. After finding out all the historical figures buried there, Karlo followed up with, “You think Mr. Miyagi is somewhere around here?” With its rolling hills, meticulous landscaping, and rows of white headstones, Arlington National Cemetery stands as a powerful tribute to those who have served the nation.
On our tour of Arlington, we walked up to the Kennedy gravesites. Then the students turned the corner to see the place where many Supreme Court Justices have been laid to rest. RBG remains a key figure in many of our students’ minds, so they eagerly sought out her headstone to pay reverence.
At this point in time, Mr. Brannan pulled Stella C., Alec, Peyton, and Tyler to change clothes and receive a quick rundown of the rules and procedures of the ceremony from one of the members of “The Old Guard” who take turns guarding the tomb 24 hours a day, known as Sentinels.
While these soldiers look old and distinguished to the students, they’re starting to look quite young to Mr. Brannan. Either way, they’re the best of their unit to receive such a prestigious posting, and they delivered their instructions to the students efficiently while converting the solemnity of the ceremony in which they’d be taking part.
Here’s the gist of what they explained: the Wreath Laying Ceremony at the Tomb is a time-honored tradition that allows individuals or groups to pay their respects. During the ceremony, participants place a wreath at the Tomb, followed by the playing of “Taps” and a moment of silence. This deeply moving ritual serves as a powerful way to honor the memory of all unknown soldiers who gave their lives in service to their country.
When it came time for our students to begin the ceremony, they were accompanied by a Sentinel who would remain at their side throughout the ceremony. He introduced himself and asked them where they were from. Turns out he was a Californian too, and had stayed in El Segundo with his wife a few years ago and had a great time. This quick dialogue seemed to ease some of the nerves our kids were feeling, and when the ceremony began, they performed flawlessly. We’d tell you more about it now, but we don’t want to spoil an upcoming Community Gathering where the Wreath Layers will tell the entire school about their experience.
On our walk out of Arlington, students exclaimed how cool it was to witness the changing of the guard and seeing their classmates lay the wreath. We also stopped at a few more important gravesites along the way, including the Challenger Memorial and Arlington’s Military Women’s Memorial.
Then it was on to lunch at Ben’s Chili Bowl, an iconic restaurant that has been serving its famous chili and half-smokes since 1958. Founded by Ben and Virginia Ali, the restaurant gained fame for staying open during the 1968 riots following Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination, serving both protesters and police officers. Ben’s Chili Bowl stands as a symbol of the city’s resilience and a testament to the enduring power of good food and community.
As the kids were getting seated in the back room, Virginia Ali appeared. Your kids walked past her and took their seats. They must have been polite and said hello because when Ms. Reimann had a chance to speak with her, she offered banana pudding and chocolate cake to the chaperones free of charge.
When the food arrived at the tables, there was some trepidation from some of them of what seemed like a mess of a hot dog. After one bite, though, minds were quickly changed, as they followed in the footsteps of Denzel Washington, Anthony Bourdain, and Barack Obama in becoming fans of the iconic half-smoke.
After lunch, we walked over to the African American Civil War Memorial before boarding our buses, which was a good prelude to our next stop, Ford’s Theater, the site of President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. Originally built as a church in 1833, it was converted into a theater in 1861. After the assassination, the building served various purposes before being restored and reopened as a theater and museum in 1968.
In the basement of the theater, students explored exhibits about Lincoln ranging from his leadership through the early days of the Civil War to his conversations with Frederick Douglass to his assassination, including a display of the derringer pistol Booth wielded to assassinate Lincoln. Then we sat on the balcony of the theater and listened to a park ranger give us an overview of what occurred on April 15, 1865.
Hold up. A United States Park Ranger giving a presentation inside Ford’s Theater? If that seems odd to you, we agree, but the National Park Service does run Ford’s Theater. Want to hear something even more strange? Well, you’re going to. Ms. Reimann saw Annika with a souvenir from the Ford’s Theater Museum gift store. What was it? A miniature bison. We can only assume there’s a tourist in a Yellowstone Visitor Center gift shop right now confused as to why there are a bunch of stovepipe hat key chains for sale.
After our stop at Ford’s Theater, we went to the National Mall where students were given a choice to visit the National History Museum, the National American Art Museum, or the National Museum of American History. Since were were split up into different groups at this point, we thought we’d let the students say what they thought of each museum—
NATIONAL HISTORY MUSEUM
Gia U: I liked the ocean room and giant whales.
Maddy: I also liked the ocean room. I thought the exhibit on jellyfish was interesting and liked the giant model jellyfish.
Alex: I liked the different corals and sea animals displayed in the ocean area.
Lucas: I liked looking at all the fossils.
Tyson: The mammal section was insane. This is the coolest museum I’ve been to in a while.
Peyton J: The exhibit about cell phones was neat. We made personalized memes, and it showed all the minerals it takes to make one.
Luna: My favorite part of the museum was the mammal section.
Eda: The gem section was really cool. They had so many different kinds. I also liked the ocean exhibits, even though I don’t really like the ocean.
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AMERICAN HISTORY
Stella C: I liked seeing the cast from Dear Evan Hansen and Prince’s guitar. Stella educated Gabrielle on the importance of knowing who Prince was.
Annika and Noa practiced Takadimi rhythms with Mr. Rothbart with the original sheet music for The Star Spangled Banner.
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART
As for the thoughts of the students who attended the National Museum of American Art, well, that museum closed 30 minutes earlier than the others. So, those students got ice cream with their extra time. They all agreed that was their favorite part.
Since we got caught in some traffic earlier in the day, we didn’t get to have any downtime on the Mall after the museums, so we headed to dinner at Makers Union. Students had actually chosen their meal at this restaurant in advance of their trip to DC, but since most of them had already forgotten the choice they made, the food they received in front of them was kind of a surprise. Luckily, their past selves made choices their present selves liked, so they were happy surprises.
Here are a few of their thoughts:
Tyson – dinner was fun… I loved sitting with my friends.
Octavio – the food was really good and had fun eating with friends
Gabrielle – it was ok, I was glad I had vegetables. Shoutout to Noa for giving me a lot of fries.
Stella C – it was spectacular! I had a great time with all my peers, especially Talya. Shoutout to the waitress that cleaned up our salt.
After dinner, we went to the Kennedy Center to watch Shear Madness. We had some time before the play began, so we got to spend some time on the rooftop terrace. The view at night there is pretty great, and looking NNW off the rooftop gave the kids a nighttime view of Georgetown, a neighborhood they’ll get to explore tomorrow around dinnertime.
When the play was about to begin, we made our way to our seats. Everyone was pretty tired, but once the show began, the kids began to perk up. There’s a reason Shear Madness is the longest running show in Kennedy Center history. It’s ridiculously hilarious in all the right ways while engaging the audience by asking for their active participation to solve a murder mystery.
Once the seeds of the mystery were planted, several members of The Play That Goes Wrong and the Mock Trial team were actively trying to solve the mystery. Other 8th graders also joined in the fun. Remi identified an important piece of evidence that the detective thanked her for, and Ethan pointed the finger at the detective and his deputy as potential suspects.
Here are a few student thoughts from the play:
Alex: I liked the political jokes, they were funny.
Luna: I liked it a lot, I didn’t like that we chose the killer. I wanted to figure it out.
Remi: I really liked it.
Tyler Roberts: It was interesting…
The play must have really energized them because despite getting back to the hotel later than at any other point in the trip so far, they didn’t seem to want to go back to their rooms. Of course, in their groggy state tomorrow, they may regret that, as Mr. Shipley and Ms. Youngblood are threatening to carry buckets of water with them during wakeup calls tomorrow morning.
Tomorrow, we’re off to Capitol Hill. Before we head up there in the morning, we’ll deliberate on some current issues important to the students to prepare us to visit the hallowed halls of American democracy. While up there, we’ll walk past the Supreme Court and visit the Library of Congress before eating in one of the cafeterias in Congress for lunch. In the afternoon, we’ll head to Frederick Douglass House, the National Archives, and explore Goergetown before stopping by the World War II Memorial at night on the way back to the hotel.
