Washington tour is tops for students

(Clockwise from top) Blake Ehr, Andrew Wilson, Emery Meyer, Ashton Simms, Katherine Ruettgers, Rachael Tenneson. photo provided

It started badly. The flight out of Redmond was canceled at the last minute, causing the anxious group to arrive late in Washington, D.C.

But the rest of the educational trip "was superb" for the 14 participants from Sonrise Christian School here in Sisters.

"My main objectives in leading this trip were to have the students learn a greater appreciation of our country's history and heritage and to instill in them a desire to see more of our national's capital later, on their own," said Deborah Halsten, school history teacher and leader of the group.

The group consisted of six eighth graders, half-a-dozen parents and two teachers. Blake Ehr was accompanied by his dad, Stuart; Sheryl Ruettgers was with daughter, Katherine; and Barb Wilson went with son Andrew.

Rachael Tenneson had both parents, Allison and Ric, along.

"It was really exciting," she said. "I particularly loved all the monuments, especially the Lincoln Memorial with the Statue of Mr. Lincoln sitting right up front where we could see him."

Rachael said that all the kids got along really well with all the parents. "We all had a fine time together."

Emery Meyer and Ashton Simms were the other two students and Shelly Dinsmore and Randy Muir, an English teacher at the school, were the two other adults on the trip.

Blake Ehr said later that it was "very exciting to learn and see how our nation started." He said that his visit to the International Spy Museum was very "cool." To see some of the actual spy gadgets was fascinating, "especially one of the automobiles James Bond drove in one of his movies."

The group took an evening walking tour of Alexandria, Virginia, with a local guide and other night-time tours of the Lincoln, Vietnam and Korean War Memorials.

"The list of public buildings and places we visited would fill this newspaper," Halsten said. "We did it all, from Mount Vernon to the White House and from the Smithsonian to the National Zoo."

They were in Jamestown (colonial and Indian settlements); Williamsburg (saw a historical impersonation of Patrick Henry); Richmond and Monticello (home of Thomas Jefferson). On the day before they returned home on Saturday, March 27, the group toured Gettysburg.

Muir asked of each student to prepare a journal in advance of what they were going to see and experience from each person's individual study and to then compare what the actual monument or event was like after they had seen it.

"From this advance study, many of our students acted as our own tour guides," Halsten said.

Part of the educational aftermath will be a presentation by the eight grade travelers to the seventh grade students and their parents later this year.