My Students

Do you remember the first time you visited the nation's capital, standing before the White House, visiting the Smithsonian Museums? Most of my tenth grade students have never left our city, let alone visited Washington, DC.

The fifty students coming to DC are all deserving tenth graders.

Living in the inner-city, the problems they face everyday are staggering. But regardless, they come to school with high hopes and dreams, and they are engaged in their classes and excited about this opportunity to leave their hometown for a few days. At our school, we value the importance of field work experience, and this trip embodies the ultimate history field work opportunity for our students. They have been planning and hoping for this trip for months, but with increased budget cuts and many of their families unable to pay, they have already overcome many obstacles. We have received a grant to pay for our transportation, and each family is contributing $100.

My Project

These fifty students' lives will be forever changed for the better by their four-day experience in Washington, DC. We will be staying in dorms at a local university and engaging in dialog with admissions counselors to provide the students with possibilities for their college dreams. We have contacted our congressman to arrange for tours of all three branches of government, and the students are excited at the anticipation of meeting Members of Congress at the Capitol, Justices at the Supreme Court, or even the President at the White House. They are even excited to visit the Newseum, where they will view newspapers and other media sources from throughout American history and be able to deeply conceptualize the sequence of events that shape our nation's history. This trip will give them the opportunity to see that history, politics, and other cities in America are open to everyone, regardless of their socioeconomic status.

Spending an afternoon at the Newseum is important because no other museum is as dedicated to our first amendment rights and America's historical story as told through the media.

Especially with the high-stakes US History Regents Exam only weeks after our trip to DC, these students will further interact with history in a non-traditional and fun setting. Students will take responsibility for their own learning knowing that they are supported and encouraged by donors like you.