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Washington D.C. Field Trip
Each spring Greenville Senior High School offers a field trip experience for our Juniors taking United States History. This trip has been a tradition at Greenville Senior High School for over a decade and has helped our students get a first hand look at the workings of our federal government. While visiting our Nation's Capital, students have the opportunity visit numerous historical sights in our nation’s capital, see the offices and buildings where the federal government operates, and walk the paths that our American forefathers did as they plotted the course of history. We are excited about the opportunity that this trip provides for our students. This trip is coordinated by Mrs. Michelle Allen. A few of the places we visit while in DC are listed below:
University of Virginia and Monticello - Students begin their visit by eating lunch in the student center at University of Virginia. This is then followed by a tour of the University or time to just enjoy the campus on their own. We've even been fortunate enough to sit in a lecture by one of the University's professors. Our trip to this section of Virginia is followed by a visit to Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson, our third President and framer of the Declaration of Independence. Students are given a tour of the house and are encouraged to explore the grounds. Monticello is the autobiographical masterpiece of Thomas Jefferson, designed and redesigned and built and rebuilt for more than forty years. The Monticello plantation of 5,000 acres was a center of agriculture and industry, and was home not only to the Jefferson family, but to workers, black and white, enslaved and free. The gardens at Monticello were a botanic showpiece, a source of food, and an experimental laboratory of ornamental and useful plants from around the world. This part of our trip gave us an opportunity to see back in time to our infancy as a nation and to visit a key location of our early beginnings a nation.
Capitol Tour - For years while at the Capitol building, we had the priviledge to meet with the Honorable Senator Thurmond and have a personal welcome to our nation's capitol. Most recently, we've met with Senator Demint and had the opportunity to have a group picture taken with him.
Our visit to the Capitol provides us with a better understanding of the workings of the federal government. The United States Capitol Complex is comprised of the Capitol, the House and Senate Office Buildings, the U.S. Botanic Garden, the Capitol Grounds, the Library of Congress buildings, the Supreme Court Building, the Capitol Power Plant, and various support facilities. In addition, work has now begun towards the construction of a new Capitol Visitor Center, an underground facility to be located beneath the Capitol's east front plaza. The Capitol is one of the most widely recognized buildings in the world. It is a symbol of the American people and our government, the meeting place of the nation's legislature, an art and history museum, and a tourist attraction visited by millions every year.
Arlington Cemetery - A special part of the tour is our visit to Arlington Cemetery, the most hallowed burial ground of our fallen military and one of the most visited tourist sites in the Washington, D.C., area. There are many special persons interred here, including the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the Kennedy grave sites. There are veterans and other exceptional individuals buried at Arlington from the Revolutionary War to the present military action in Iraq and Afghanistan. Since May of 1864, Arlington has been a fully operational National Cemetery. Overall, daily funerals average about 25 each workday.
National Cathedral - An interesting part of our tour is the National Catherdral. The idea for a national cathedral is as old as Washington itself. In 1791, when Congress selected the site to be the capital of the United States, President George Washington commissioned Major Pierre L'Enfant to design an overall plan for the future seat of government. Included in L'Enfant's plan was a church, "intended for national purposes, such as public prayer, thanksgiving, funeral orations, etc., and assigned to the special use of no particular Sect or denomination, but equally open to all." The completion in September 1990 marked the end of eighty-three years of construction.
The Cathedral continues to be a place of national focus. It was the site of President George W. Bush's Inaugural Prayer Service and later the National Prayer and Remembrance service on September 14, 2001. On December 25, 2002, the Cathedral broadcast its fiftieth national Christmas service.
Since the first services were held in Bethlehem Chapel, Washington National Cathedral has opened its doors to people of all faiths as they have gathered to worship and pray, to mourn the passing of world leaders, and to confront the pressing moral and social issues of the day.
DC in 2010 - The dates for the trip this year are March 18 - 21, 2010. The information has been handed out to all the students in their U.S. History classes. If your student did not get this information, they need to ask their teacher, or come by to see Mrs. Michelle Allen in the media center beside the forum. If you have further questions about the Washington, DC field trip please contact Mrs. Michelle Allen and find out more about the trip and the opportunities it provides.