On Wednesday, March 27 ten WHS journalism students and journalism teachers Kathy Stoker and Susan Smith flew out of Boston to Washington D.C. to explore the capital for the next four days.  Their goal was to visit the Newseum (http://www.newseum.org/) as well as check out numerous historical sites and museums.  

On the first day, the student journalists were able to explore the Newseum. 

Senior Haley Welsh shares:  “My personal favorite sight to see was the Newseum. They had thousands of artifacts and covered many important historical events and facts. It was incredible that they had a piece of the Berlin Wall. I also enjoyed the FBI exhibit. It was fascinating to see all the different events and national crisis that the FBI has dealt with and continues to deal with. My favorite exhibit at this museum contained every newspaper since the eighteenth century. It was really interesting to walk past each and see several events that I have learned extensively about in various classes throughout high school. They had original copies of newspapers from so many important events, both positive and negative, such as various presidents’ inaugurations, civil rights issues, and acts of terrorism against the United States. In this newspaper section, they also had daily national newspapers from dozens of countries around the world. It was amazing to see how many newspapers they had and also to see all the different languages and layouts of newspapers from around the globe.”

“My personal favorite thing was the Newseum on the first day. I thought it was so cool how a newspaper from that day from every state was printed and hanging up. I also thought how it was very interesting how they had preserved newspapers from big historical events such as the sinking of the Titanic, JFK’s death, The first man on the moon, and Princess Diana’s death. Another interesting thing in the Newseum was the 9/11 memorial. There was a heart breaking video, along with many news papers about the 9/11 events,” comments senior Audrey Herzig.

Throughout the other days, the student journalists explored many of the government buildings as well as many memorials and monuments.

Junior Ryan Guilbeau reflects, “While in Washington D.C., I really enjoyed the weather, as well as walking around the city and sightseeing. The city looked beautiful, as the cherry blossom trees were blooming. It also got to the 60’s in terms of temperature I think every day, which was so nice after a winter that felt like forever here. I really enjoyed the architecture of D.C. as well, as it seemed like many of the buildings had a Greek or Roman influence to it. Before the trip, I had assumed that was only the really famous places like the White House and the Lincoln Memorial, but there were so many more places that had that architectural style. Walking through D.C. with the warm weather and blooming nature was a great break from school and was a great time. My favorite place specifically was the Capitol Building. This is because of how immersive that experience was. We got to go inside the Capitol Building and get a tour of it, which was fascinating to me. Our tour guide knew a ton of really cool facts too, and the inside of the building was incredible. We also got a ton of great pictures of us outside the Capitol Building, as well as inside it. Overall I loved this trip, and I’m very glad I went on it. It was awesome to see our nation’s capital in person for the first time.”  

Senior Casey McNamara believes, “I don’t think senior year would have been complete without this trip to DC! I always was envious of the eighth graders who went on the DC trip before me, and I always wanted to go with my grade. Although this was not the entirety of my grade, it was perfect with the ten people who went. I also feel as if this trip was perfect for seniors and juniors because we were actually able to enjoy the history and the information we were learning. All of it was applicable to many of the things we were taught in school. As our capital, DC holds so many special pieces of our nation’s history, may it be the physical city’s history or the museums filled with historical things.”

The students even had some down time to rest and play from the intense, educational experience.

“Another highlight of the trip was the time we were able to spend playing cards together on the national mall, or simply exploring other museums that we had the most interest in. The weather while we were down in DC was perfect and I wouldn’t have wanted to spend my time in any other place, with any other people, or any other way!”  says senior Jessie Grossman.

“Having been to D.C. before, this was one thing I had not seen already. It was so cool to see what they had inside, from all of the daily newspapers from around the world and also the headlines from important events from the 1500s to now.  The next few days were filled with all of the war memorials, the Washington Monument, the White House, Arlington Cemetery, a tour of the Capitol, and much more. I especially liked the tour of the Capitol because it was really cool to be able to actually go inside of it. The architecture and statues inside was amazing to see in person and something I will never forget. Overall, I enjoyed everyday of this trip and I loved spending time with the people we went with. Another huge perk was the warm weather and getting to see the beautiful cherry blossoms. Myself and a few others even got a sunburn from the D.C. sun! From four busy days in D.C. to the fun times at night spent playing cards with the group, this trip was all around a great time,” remarks Brosnihan.