Science Olympiad's Final Day in Washington, DC

(NOTE: This is what we did on Sunday, June 2, 2013.)

The fourth and final day of our trip began with alarms ringing at 7 am sharp. Since everyone showered the previous night, it did not take long for everyone to get ready for another delicious breakfast buffet at the Embassy Suites hotel. This truly was a fabulous way to start off our day!

Weekend metro construction once again caused us to take a bit of a detour. Part of the red line which our hotel was located off of was being repaired and updated. This means that we had to take a metro shuttle bus to bypass the areas that were being worked on. Riding the bus was quite interesting in that it allowed us a bit of a scenic tour of Washington.

Our first stop of the day was Ford’s Theatre which is where John Wilkes Booth assassinated President Abraham Lincoln. The theatre itself was closed down in preparation for the annual Ford’s Theatre Gala so we were not able to go inside. However, we got to see the proverbial red carpet being rolled out and preparations being made for the Gala. Directly across the street from Ford’s Theatre is the Petersen House which is where Lincoln was taken after he was shot. Inside the house is the pillow still covered in Lincoln’s blood. Unfortunately, the Petersen House was also closed to visitors so we were not able to go on a tour. However, we were able to snap a group photo on the steps of the Petersen House before heading off to do a bit of souvenir shopping.

Our final DC destination was the National Portrait Gallery. Interestingly enough this was the first place we did not have to go through security lines. We simply walked in and began touring the gallery. The only thing we had to do was wear our small bags and purses on our front so as to not accidentally nock into and damage any of the artwork. Free lockers are located inside the gallery’s lobby for backpacks and other large items. In talking to all of the kids, it was unanimous that their favorite piece of art was Nam Jun Paik’s “Electronic Superhighway: Continental U.S., Alaska, Hawaii” which is essentially a neon outline of the country with televisions in each state which depict images that Paik thinks represent each state. For example, in Kansas a loop of footage from the Wizard of Oz played.

As previously noted, metro construction increased our travel time both today and yesterday. Therefore, we decided to head back to the hotel after the National Portrait Gallery to be sure we arrived in time to catch the shuttles we booked to the airport. We ended up with an hour and a half and the troops were hungry. Thankfully there was a Booeymongers right down the street from our Embassy Suites hotel. Booeymongers had delicious sandwiches, wraps and salads so there was something that met everyone’s tastes.

After assuaging our appetites, we trooped back to the hotel to collect our luggage. We had originally planned to take the metro back to the airport, but the construction would make it difficult to travel with luggage so we had two taxis shuttle us to the airport.

We arrived at the airport with plenty of time to spare so the kind folks at AirTran said we could get on an earlier flight. A flurry of quick phone calls to parents ensued to notify them of our change in travel plans. As we made our way through security and arrived at our gate we found that they had shut the doors, effectively barring us from boarding the earlier flight. This meant we had to get back on our original flight and call all the parents again to notify them that our travel plans were in line with what was initially planned.

Since we had a couple of hours to keep busy, we began by finishing up the postcards we were sending to thank family, friends and community partners for helping make this DC trip possible. Once all post cards were completed, we began spirited games of Headbandz and Catch Phrase. We even had a U.S. serviceman join in our lively game of Headbandz!

The weather in DC as well as Atlanta was stormy and therefore our flight home was delayed several times. Thankfully everyone easily passed the time with grabbing a bite to eat, journaling, and participating in various games. When we landed in Atlanta at about 11:15, we had to wait to let everyone else deplane first. Then the adults helped the students get their luggage from the overhead compartments and off we went to meet up with our rides. As we came up the escalator towards baggage claim we were greeted by the parents who came to drive us back to school.  One parent even had a delicious surprise gift bag of dove chocolates for each teacher to thank us for planning and chaperoning this trip. By 1 a.m. everyone had been picked up from school and arrived safely back in their respective homes.

As I conclude this fourth and final post about the Science Olympiad DC trip, I want to take a moment once again to thank our community partners (Chik Fil-A, Monterreys Mexican Restauraunt, Fair Oaks Soccer Club, Childress Kline Properties) as well as all of our colleagues, family and friends who made this trip possible. Thanks to you our students were able to experience many first including, but not limited to, first time flying in an airplane, first time eating in a restaurant where you sit and have your meal served to you, first time on a metro train, first time visiting Washington, DC and so on. The smiles on our students’ faces and the memories they were able to create are priceless. Your generosity enabled our kids to have this once in a lifetime experience! THANK YOU!