Hollis Brookline students gain learning experience in DC

Washington, D.C., is the place to be for the eighth-grade class at Hollis Brookline Middle School. As President Barack Obama once said, “My job is not to represent Washington to you, but to represent you to Washington.” It’s a great privilege to be able to see the city that is the seat of American government. Each year, students visit many places, including the White House, the Holocaust Museum, the Smithsonian Museums, the Capitol Building, the Library of Congress, the Washington Monument, the Vietnam Memorial Wall and Mount Vernon, George Washington’s house in Virginia. Students learned about most of these places prior to visiting Washington to increase their knowledge of our history. When the eighth-graders go to Washington, it isn’t just for fun: They learn so much while they’re there. “The best part of going to D.C. for the students is that they not only get to be social with their peers, but they are exposed to a lot of educational sites that some of these students might never get the opportunity to see,” said Pat Marquette, an eighth-grade math teacher at Hollis Brookline Middle School. The eighth-grade class is $3,800 short of going this year because some of the students who would like to be a part of the experience can’t afford the full cost. Some students are awarded $650 scholarships. The trip needs to be funded because it’s a once-in-a-lifetime chance for some students to see all of the sites that the HBMS students have access to, such as the changing of the guard ceremony or some of the tours they take. “The memorials were really powerful for a lot of people, and I think that’s the biggest reason to continue doing this trip,” said Hollis Brookline High School senior Audrey Johnson, who attended the trip as an eighth-grader. “It was also a great bonding experience for a whole grade, and we got to learn a lot from the museums and places we visited.” This trip is something the eighth-graders look forward to from their first days at the middle school.