Tour of D.C., A Seventh Grade Tradition

The annual seventh grade trip to Washington, D.C., is a thirty-eight-year tradition at Fenn. The boys, accompanied by several faculty members and the school nurse, two congenial bus drivers, and a pair of energetic tour guides, spend a busy 36 hours in the nation’s capital, including a whirlwind tour that takes them to the WWII, Iwo Jima, Korean, Vietnam, Air Force, Jefferson, Lincoln, FDR, and MLK memorials, Arlington National Cemetery, the U.S. Holocaust Museum, the National Air & Space Museum, the Museum of Natural History, the U.S. Capitol, and the National Zoo before they pile once more onto their buses for the drive home.

The boys remember the D.C. trip just as much for the fun and camaraderie engendered by sharing a long bus ride, sleeping in hotel rooms, and devouring fast food as they do for what they saw and what they learned. When they return, they talk and write about their experiences in their classes. Years later, as alumni, they say the D.C. trip is one of their fondest memories of Fenn.