My Best Day in Education

 My best day in education happened when we began planning our return trip to Washington D.C.  I have been organizing the 8th grade class trip for 15 years, taking about 100 students each year to the Nation’s capital.  For some students this is not only their first trip to Washington, but their first trip out of Ohio, their first time staying in a hotel, or their first time being away from home for more than a night.  New sights, new experiences, new foods, and meeting people from other countries and cultures are all expected on the trip.  New friends are made and best friends often fight after spending several days together. 

We have been traveling over the weekend prior to Thanksgiving for the past several years. Upon returning home in 2019 we began to plan for the 7th graders to go in the fall of 2020.  A parent meeting in January kicked off what I hoped to be the start of yet another memorable trip. At the time I had only the smallest concern of news from China about a mysterious illness, little did I know that it would derail our plans. In February we collected our first payment and the news of the world was the topic of discussion nearly everywhere.  Plans continued to move forward.  Numbers were given to the tour company so they could purchase tickets, assign buses, block out hotel rooms, and contact restaurants to provide meals.  Then March roared in and with it school shutdowns.  On March 12 Ohio led the nation in ordering a statewide shutdown of schools.  At the time, it was supposed to be a temporary measure and we were expecting to return for the end of the school year. Even with the school shutdown, plans were continuing for a trip in the fall. Additional payments were collected, hotel room assignments were being made, bus lists created.  Those plans were thwarted by cascading shutdowns across the country.  In July we finally had to make the decision to cancel the trip.

The school board recently approved plans for a return trip in the spring of 2022.  Students who missed the trip during their 8th grade year will be able to go during their 9th grade year.  I am looking forward to the stories shared on the bus ride there, to looks of wonder as we enter the museums, to the smiles as we share meals together.  Most importantly, it will be a chance for the class to get back to normal. The best day in education for me was the day I found out we were going back to DC.