24 students and 3 chaperones will be heading to Washington, D.C. thanks to the efforts of educator Jessica Williams. She currently teaches Social Studies at the Junior High but will be making the jump to high school next year and spoke to Kiwanis Thursday about the upcoming trip.
“This has been a goal of mine since I started teaching. When I was in high school, our class took our senior trip to D.C. And that was a huge eye opener for so many of our rural kids to get to go to a big city.”
The group will travel through Education First Tours and leave for their 4 day trip on June 3rd and will pack a ton of sights and learning opportunities into the experience. Among the highlights:
The White House
Black Lives Matter Plaza
Washington Monument
Smithsonian
A Night Tour of D.C.
Arlington Cemetery and the Changing of the Guard
Mt. Vernon
U.S. Capitol
Congress
Jefferson Memorial
Maring Luther King, Jr Memorial
Pentagon
Ford Theater
The excursion isn’t cheap at about $2,200 per student. Williams says she hopes as the program continues, they can help students financially who otherwise might not be able to go.
“Because it is expensive, I would like to in the future, do some kind of scholarship program for students that would like to go but their families can’t afford it. We book these trips 2 years in advance. My goal is to plan, if we’re going to do an every 2 year kind of thing, to start booking this coming fall for the next one. And the earlier you book, the lower your monthly payment. But even then, some kids wouldn’t be able to swing it. So our goal is to come up with some kind of scholarship program to help at least one student with the next trip.”
Williams says the why for the experience is pretty obvious when you look at the stats.
“93% of student travelers say the tour expanded their knowledge of the world. A lot of the kids going on this trip have never left the tri-state. 89% of student travelers say they understand more about new people, places, and cultures. It’s no secret that this is not a diverse community. They will see homelessness, some of them for the first time, real homelessness and people from other cultures. 92% of students said they discovered more about themselves. And 88% say they grew more confident and independent. We’re going to learn how to navigate a metro system…and that’s terrifying.”
Williams is hopeful that a D.C. trip will become an every 4 year option and a trip to another city can be an every 2 year possibility.
