Washington . . .Part 2

Here is a group shot of the 48 students we took to our nations capital. I think the building in the background is the Capitol. I think. Anyway, I am very proud and honored to have been selected to chaperone the trip in the first place. Mike truly does an exemplary job planning all the nuts and bolts of the trip, and it goes off seamlessly, providing an unparalleled learning experience for the kids. In addition, I am very proud of all my Winslow students, for the way they conducted themselves with respect and dignity in our nation's most hallowed places--such as Arlington and all the memorials. Sure, they did "normal" high school senior stuff like fart, scraugh (which is a combination of screaming and laughing . . .usually done only from midnight to 2 a.m OR on the bus as soon as most people are into their naps), and other annoying stuff. But I am proud to say that they pretty much gave us absolutely no reason to worry about them OR the integrity of the trip. Mike also did a great job of instilling within the students a proper sense of decorum for the heroes and forefathers who paved the way for our great country--no cell phones, iPods, hats, sunglasses, etc. were allowed in Arlington. It really bothered me to see some other student tours with not even a modicum of respect for the fallen, as they laughed, gallivanted, and hid behind their music players while walking through our national cemetery. Anyway, good job Mike. And here is the original Kermit!!! He lives in the Smithsonian Museum of American History, but that is closed for renovations. However, they had some of the "cooler" items on display for an exhibit in the air and space museum.

Holy Crap its R2D2 and C3P0!! Wicked awesome. Yay Star Wars, even.
This next one is truly amazing: George Washington's Army uniform overcoat. After the war, Washington resigned his commission as an Army officer . . .only to be elected as president years later. Somebody somewhere had the forethought to keep this coat. This thing is like 300 years old . . . . Can you make this out? This is a picture of a tree stump. But its not just ANY tree stump. During the Battle of Spotsylvannia in the Civil War, essentially everything on the battlefield was decimated by bullets, cannons, etc. As the story goes, at the end of the battle, all that remained was this tree trunk, the rest of which had been denuded by the fire and fury of the battle. The stump represents the carnage and destruction of the civil war--the war in which there were the most American casualties of any American war (most likely since we were both the enemy AND the good guys . . .depending on which side you were on).
Tomorrow I may do one more post on D.C. before getting back to "normal" life . . .including the wicked excited details of Sally and I's first "birthing" class--for a baby that is due in about TWELVE WEEKS!!