Many EHS students will be embarking on a trip to Washington, D.C., called “A Deep Dive Into Washington, D.C.,” at the beginning of spring break. 

English teacher Cara Lane has been hosting bonding events for the students to get to know one another and hopefully get to know more about the places they will be visiting on the trip.

“All of those [places] are not normally on the middle school agenda and they were not on the middle school agenda last year,” Ms. Lane said. “The first thing I did was to go to both of the middle school teachers [who lead the D.C. trips at Liberty and Lincoln] to make sure I wasn’t stepping on their toes.”

Ms. Lane said that out of her classes, less and less kids have been to D.C., partially because of a missed opportunity or because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Even if they had been to D.C. before or perhaps chose to not go several years ago, the opportunity needed to be presented again,” Ms. Lane said.

Ms. Lane is hoping to meet with one of her former students who is an architect in D.C. and hopes that he could give the students a tour.

During the trip meeting on Jan. 9, two of Ms. Lane’s students who are going on the trip created presentations about locations they will see. Three more students will present about a location at the next meeting.

Senior Hannah Becker presented about the National Museum of African American History & Culture. Becker talked about the backstory behind the building and Ms. Lane furthered the presentation by talking about the significance of the architecture.

“I think any travel opportunity, no matter whether you’re going to D.C. or some place as local as St. Louis, there is a rite of passage that comes with any type of travel,” Ms. Lane said.

Senior Grace Ramsey is planning to present about the Korean War Memorial at the next bonding event. She has traveled to D.C. before and has seen the memorial.

“I like the way it’s set up,” Ramsey said. “You can really see yourself in the faces of the statues there.”

Ramsey has a love for photography and is excited to take pictures of D.C. and get to explore the portrait gallery inside the Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM).

Sophomore Caroline James said she has never been to D.C. before and was excited to have the opportunity to go with Ms. Lane, her “favorite teacher.”

“Because of COVID-19, our middle school D.C. trips got canceled, so we weren’t able to go to D.C. my seventh or eighth grade year,” James said.

James also hopes to see the SAAM, but she also wants to see the Holocaust Museum during the trip’s designated free time.

Ms. Lane’s student teacher, Ms. Natalie Landrith, has never been to D.C. and is going on the trip with Ms. Lane and her students.

“My grandparents said it would be the experience of a lifetime,” Ms. Landrith said.

The D.C. trip was expected to begin on March 29 but due to scheduling issues with WorldStrides, the company that helped Ms. Lane make the trip a reality, the trip will be happening a day later.

Ms. Lane said that they have been relocated to a different hotel; she said it was nicer than their original one.

EHS students will be traveling to D.C. on March 30 and will be returning April 1.