Final Reflections

Reflections:

The timing for the Washington, D.C. trip was ideal. We began the week at Ellis Island where some students were able to locate passenger records of ancestors. We ferried past the Statue of Liberty as so many immigrants did on their passage to Ellis Island and a new life in our country. Emma Lazarus wrote of the Statue of Liberty:

"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

We watched our Nation’s capital preparing for the festivities of Memorial Day, the day for remembering those who sacrificed their lives for the freedoms we cherish as American citizens.

The children had a chance to witness our government at work. They listened to a senator from New Jersey discussing the level of liability for the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico. Later they would hear what President Obama had to say at a press conference: “… Malia knocks on my bathroom door and she peeks in her head and she says, 'did you plug the hole yet, Daddy?'" President Obama has been working on this environmental disaster.

Walking in D.C. is like walking through history. The many architectures, statues, documents, and paintings chronicle the birth, hardships, and growth of our nation. Our final destination of Arlington National Cemetery was the ideal location to solemnly reflect on the magnitude of our Nation’s history. Our descent to Colrain Central School was another period of quiet reflection. Let this trip be another remarkable point in your journey of discovering our national history.