8/12/2013 0 Comments 8th Grade United States HistoryI am now the 8th Grade United States History teacher at RCMS! I am very excited about this change and looking forward to a great year with a wonderful group of students. It will be fun to work with students I taught in 6th grade again as 8th graders and see how much they have matured over the past year!
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1/21/2013 1 Comment Inauguration Day January 21, 2013Wow, where do I begin describing today? I'll start at the beginning. My bus left the hotel at 5:30 this morning and parked at the Washington Nationals baseball stadium. We walked the nearly 2 miles to the mall with the crowds. There were thousands of students on the mall for today's inauguration. I have seen elementary school students at museums and memorials this weekend as well as tons of middle and high school students. There were estimated 1 million people were in attendance today, yet there was no shoving or pushing to get in a particular place on the mall. Everyone I met was cheerful and had a good time through the cold weather. As the music began volunteers began passing out the thousands of American flags that were waved today. It was quite the patriotic moment to be in a sea of a million flags. My favorite part was hearing "Hail to the Chief," the song that is always played when the President enters a room. I have never heard this played in person and that was an amazing moment for me. I was literally one in a million today and this was by far the largest crowd I have ever been in, but I didn't feel like it was that crowded. What was surprising at the end was how fast 1 million people can disappear. The funny part of the day was when we got "trapped" inside the mall because the secret service decided to close off all of the exits to the mall until the parade was done. I was not going to get to see the parade at all, but thanks to the secret service I got to see all of the early bands warm up and begin marching. I hope that everyone gets the chance at least once in their lives to see an inauguration in person. What a special moment to celebrate as an American citizen! See you all back in Indiana on Wednesday. Stay warm.... I hear there is a wind chill delay tomorrow.
I did not get to write about yesterday, so I wanted to get caught up tonight. Every time I visit the memorials on the mall it is a new experience because of the people I meet or the stories I hear. I helped a few people at the Vietnam Wall find a friend's name, I saw a marching band completely fill the front steps of the Lincoln Memorial for a photo from this weekend, and I enjoyed a beautiful day of 60 degree weather in the nation's capital in January. My final experience of the day was to be stopped twice on the same road by the presidential motorcade as they arrived and left from the St. Regis Hotel. You can see the very quick video I took from the bus in my shared file on my symbaloo on my home page as the president drove right past my window last night. This is the first time in my life that I have had the opportunity to attend a presidential inauguration ceremony. I am looking forward to this with a great deal of excitement and patriotism. It does not matter to me who the president-elect is, as an American citizen this is an amazing experience that I feel very honored to be able to do. There are supposed to be over 1 million people on the mall to watch the ceremony and the parade. I believe, based on the latest security information and the reported crowds, that I will only be able to attend the ceremony, but I will try with all of my might to get over to see something of the parade if possible. I have been out visiting sites over the past two days. It is cold and breezy, but sunny which makes it all seem better. The pictures I posted above are from some of the places that I have visited, included Arlington Cemetery and the Lee Mansion, which is finally reopen for visitors to walk through again. It actually has furniture! It was an awe-inspiring site to see wreaths in front of so many graves of the heroes of our nation. I was inside the Capitol on Friday for the final tour before it was closed to prepare for the ceremony. They were getting lights and cameras set up for Monday already, and the bunting was already hung in the Rotunda. There is one picture from the Library of Congress, and then several pictures of the National Building Museum. I have never been in this HUGE building before, and even though they were setting up for a big inaugural event, it was still a lot of fun to see. What a overwhelming space! Those columns are 75 feet tall! Tomorrow it is on to the mall for a visit to the memorials before the big inauguration day!
11/30/2012 1 Comment My First Thoughts
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AuthorI taught 6th grade Social Studies and 8th grade US History at Rensselaer Central Middle School in Rensselaer, Indiana. I grew up in Littleton, Colorado. I am a licensed Washington DC tour guide. Archives
August 2013
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