Lovelady Lions Visit Washington D.C.
By Greg Ritchie
Messenger Reporter
LOVELADY – A group of Lovelady Lion junior high students, along with parents and teachers were able to visit Washington D.C., thanks to a group which helps organize and finance the trip. The kids crisscrossed the capital, getting to take in the history, monuments and even the solemn majesty of Arlington National Cemetery.
Lovelady Junior High Math Teacher Lesia Rogers joined the kids on the tour, excited to see their reactions to the city’s sights and even being able to see their reactions to flying for the first time. Young people always have more energy, and the kids certainly needed it, as the four-day trip was jam-packed from start to finish, from an early morning flight from Houston, to a busy schedule filled with history and new experiences.
South-Dakota based World Classrooms sponsors and organizes the trips, which offers two-year financing for parents to lessen the financial stress of sending the kids to the capital. The Lovelady kids had to board a bus at 2:30 on the morning of June 24, before meeting up with students from Corrigan and Lincoln, then taken to Houston for a 8:20 a.m. three-hour flight to the nation’s capital. Long days, indeed.
“The tour guides were awesome and were with us throughout the whole trip,” Rogers said. “A big part of the trip for the students was getting to know other kids from other schools. On the tour bus, they would start singing together.”
The kids spent the next four days seeing the sights – Washington Monument, U.S. Capitol, Library of Congress, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier – broadening their horizons and bringing places and events from their history books into real life.
When visiting Arlington National Cemetery, Rogers said, “They were very respectful. I was really proud of them.” The kids also witnessed the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, along with George Washington’s home and the Lincoln Memorial.
Rogers said Lovelady will participate again in the future, hoping to raise funds to help sponsor more kids and encourage parents to take advantage of the two-year financing of the trip, which is all inclusive, meaning the only extra money the kids needed was for little treats or souvenirs along the way.
While many seventh and eighth graders spent the summer taking time off or helping out with chores, for this small group of Lovelady Lions, this summer opened their minds to a whole new world, a world of travel, history, government and one hopes, to a deeper understanding and love of country.
Greg Ritchie can be reached at [email protected]
