Our visits today included a number of museums and memorials:
-The Newseum, where they learned the important role the media plays in being the "fourth estate," an extension of checks and balances. In the First Amendment gallery, they saw examples of the five freedoms the amendment guarantees.
-The National Gallery of Art, to see artistic representations of some of the major achievements and time periods the eighth grade has studied this year.
- The Marine Corps (Iwo Jima) Memorial (where we met workout guru Richard Simmons), the Pentagon 9/11 Memorial, and the Air Force Memorial.
At the Air Force Memorial, we met a group of Korean War and World War II veterans. The students shook their hands, thanked them for their service, and listened to some of their stories. There is no better way to learn history than from its primary sources.
