Day One: Washington DC

Last year, my grade level partner, Michelle, convinced me to join her in applying to participate in a Teaching American History (TAH) grant through Clovis Unified and Fresno State.  I was reluctant, but knew that it would be beneficial for my 5th graders, so I applied.  Even though it was through Clovis Unified, our grade level (Mike, Michelle, and I) got accepted.  Participation would involve one Thursday evening and one full Friday every month for the school year.  At our first meeting, we received the news that this would be the last year of funding for the TAH grant.  Part of the grant would involve an all-expenses paid trip to Washington DC and Virginia to visit the places that we'd be learning about.  I felt like I had won the lottery!  Excitement has been building for months and the day finally came- my cohort of 30 teachers and I had an amazing time visiting the East Coast over Spring Break. 

We flew out of Fresno bright and early on Monday, March 25.  Most of our day was spent traveling.  By the time we got to Washington, we were pretty exhausted.  However, most of us still decided to go on a night tour of Washington after dinner.  Our charter bus dropped us off at most of the monuments where we got a chance to see each one up close and learn about each one.  I was awed and thrilled to visit the:

 Vietnam Veterans' Memorial (it was dark and sadly, my other pictures of the wall with names didn't turn out)

 Washington Memorial in the distance, Reflecting Pool

 Lincoln Memorial

 Korean War Memorial

Martin Luther King Memorial

Jefferson Memorial

Most of us hadn't realized that the bus tour would involve us getting off the bus at each monument.  If I had known, I would've brought my camera! The few pictures I did get was with my phone.  It was also freezing cold and drizzling outside, so we didn't stick around each monument for very long.  It was amazing to get to see "history!"  There isn't really anything in Fresno that has as much history, so I was very excited. I'm amazed at the symbolism attached to each memorial.  For example, the MLK Memorial stands geographically between the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials (the 2 presidents most people associate with rights for all people) and there are 38 soldiers at the Korean War Memorial, which stands for Korea's 38th parallel...    It was a great start to what would be the most wonderful week!