Click here to listen to this week’s JAM: Walking Through Washington, D.C.
It is the end of day five of an 8-day trip to Washington, DC with 17 8th graders and 2 other chaperones. The trip – “Representation in Democracy” – is one of many Reach Beyond Week experiences we have this week, including two international trips (Argentina and Japan/Taiwan), a trip to a Native American reservation in New Mexico, a trip to Yosemite, and a number of local experiences.
The trip is not your typical 8th grade DC trip. We are visiting many of the most well-known sites – the many memorials including Lincoln, Jefferson, FDR, and MLK, the U.S. Capitol, the White House, the Holocaust Museum, the African American Museum of History and Culture, Mt. Vernon. And yet we also have some unique opportunities on our itinerary – an afternoon spent in Alexandria learning about the slave trade and resistance, a tour of the U District, a vibrant, historically Black neighborhood that included a visit to Howard University and dinner at Ben’s Chili Bowl, an iconic DC restaurant, a visit with the team at Human Rights Watch and Media Matters, a private tour at the Supreme Court, and an “open mic” poetry slam at Busboys & Poets, a cultural hub for artists, activists, writers, thinkers, and dreamers.
What makes this trip different is that we have a focus – understanding the complex relationship between race and representation in our country’s history – that challenges students to think deeply about their own role in shaping the world of today and tomorrow.
Our trip is also choice-based and small by design, organizing principles for Reach Beyond Week that we prioritize. Students are given choice thus ensuring that the participants want to be here and are genuinely interested in the topics and experiences. Small ensures that everyone is actively engaged and that we can also do things that are difficult with larger groups. One of the experiences that has been a highlight, for example, has been riding the Metro to some of our locations. The chance for students to walk from the hotel, jump on public transport, and find their way around the city is an invaluable experience and lesson in itself.
With a small and engaged group, I have had multiple opportunities over these last few days to talk with students about what they are experiencing. Students were particularly moved by the Holocaust Museum and have grappled with how that happened and how we can make sense of the power of propaganda. A presentation by Media Matters highlighted the importance of seeing how propaganda is created today, with a particular focus on the role of social media, the presence of people and groups that are actively spreading disinformation, and the developing risk of deep fakes created through AI. One of our students made the connection between propaganda in Russia today surrounding the invasion of Ukraine, explaining how she is following Russian TikTok videos and seeing examples of young Russians who know that Putin is not telling the truth.
Another student talked to me about how this experience is exactly why she is coming to Hillbrook’s Upper School. The chance to visit places that open our eyes to important issues and ideas, the opportunity to ask big questions and have a space to talk about them with peers and adults, and the belief that this should be a core and essential part of the academic program is what convinced her that she wanted to co-create our new program over the next four years. She’s excited – like all of these students – to think about what matters to them and what they are going to do about it. I share that excitement – and, to be clear, a bit of exhaustion as well. Walking 8-10 miles a day with a group of 14 year olds through the nation’s capital is not for the faint of heart. And yet it is one of the great privileges of this job, and one of the best weeks I have had all year.