The trip to Washington, DC for 8th graders for the 2009-2010 school year is scheduled for: Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, March 19, 20, and 21, 2010. For those students that are in wrestling, this trip is after the weekend of the state wrestling tournament.
Mr. and Mrs. John McGinnis, as well as Mr. Dan Solecki and his wife, will be the trip chaperones for 2010.
A parent/student meeting will be held Wednesday, April 22, 2009, in the cafeteria at 7:30 pm. Information regarding the trip, cost, itinerary, and fundraising will be presented. If you will miss this meeting, please feel free to contact Mrs. McGinnis with any questions you may have. If you are interested in registering for the 09-10 DC trip, please see the Worldstrides URL link below which is the company managing our payment accounts and trip. You may contact them by going online, telephone, or by U.S. Mail.
If at any time you have a question, you may contact Mrs. McGinnis at school (552-3608 x40).
2007 PLANO MIDDLE SCHOOL EIGHTH GRADERS VISIT WASHINGTON, DC
Recently, 36, eighth grade students and seven adult chaperones toured Washington, DC the second weekend in March to see educational sites in the DC area.
After leaving Plano at 4:00 AM, the group arrived in DC to meet up with Plano’s favorite tour guide and driver for the eighth year, Johnnie Ware. He is a dear friend to Plano students and adults.
Upon arrival at Reagan International Airport in Washington, DC, the students toured part of the Smithsonian Institute, the Museum of Natural History. Everyone enjoyed viewing the Hope Diamond as well as other artifacts. Following lunch at Union Station, the students toured Ford’s Theatre as well as the Peterson House where President Litually ost his life. The students then toured the Capitol buildilng, courtesy of U.S. House of Representative, Dennis Hastert. A driving tour was made to the Library of Congress and Supreme Court buildings. Subsequent to dinner at the Sizzling Express near the Watergate Hotel, our driver, Johnnie Ware, took us souvenir shopping near Ford’s Theatre and then on to a night tour of the Jefferson Memorial and Iwo Jima Memorial before heading to our hotel for a last minute swim.
Saturday began early with a breakfast at the hotel. Students were driven to Manassas, Va, site of Bull Run, a Civil War battlefield. We then drove to Dulles Airport to tour the new Air & Space Museum, home of the Enola Gay, Enterprise Space Shuttle, and a retired Concord jet, as well as many other famous aircraft. Retired women pilots (WASPs) from World War II were at the Udvar-Hazy Center signing autographs and talking about their involvement with flying airccraft and supplies around the U.S. during the second world war. Before heading to lunch at the Shops at National Place, we then toured the White House for the first time, courtesy of Illinois State Senator Barrack O’Bama. It was an amazing tour and we were appreciative of receiving the honor to tour. Several students struck up conversations with Secret Service Police at the White House viewing area.
Students burned some energy at the “Awakening” artwork in Potomac Park. Everyone was then driven through Embassy Row, viewed the Vice-President’s home, and drove by the National Cathedral. Visits were then made to the Einstein Statue, Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Vietnam Women’s Memorial, as well as the FDR Memorial. The group was able to tour the National Archives prior to dinner at Pentagon City Mall and a drive by the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, stops at the he Lincoln and Korean Memorials near the reflecting pool, and the World War II Memorial.
Subsequent to the last night in DC, the students heard a presentation on President Lincoln and his fate at Ford’s Theatre by a National Parks Service employee. Afterwards, by way of an appointment, students toured the Holocaust Museum. The group then toured the Air and Space Museum at the Smithsonian Museum on the national mall where a temporary exhibit of the American History Museum is housed during a two year renovation. Following lunch at the Reagan International Trade Center, Johnnie Ware lead a walking tour at Arlington National Cemetery, the Kennedy grave sites, Challenger Memorial, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and a viewing of the Changing of the Guard. The students rode down the third longest escalator in the world in Rosslyn, VA before experiencing a ride on a DC subway for several stops. Dinner was at McDonald’s before saying our goodbyes to Johnnie and departing Regan Airport for Chicago O’Hare, arriving in Plano ar ound 10:00PM.
It took a few days for everyone to recover from all of the walking and sightseeing, but was well worth it as so many memories were made from this fabulous trip.
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