It was a two-year process of planning and preparation, but finally on March 21, 2017, over one hundred students and chaperones departed from Belleville High School to travel to Washington, D.C., accompanied by their directors, Mrs. Stephanie Meir, Mrs. Sara Krueger and Mr. Chad Hodgson. The BHS Music Program, along with the AP US Government class, ventured east to spend five days in our nation's capital. The BHS Band and Choir performed in front of the Lincoln Memorial and spent the rest of the time sight-seeing and learning about this historic city.

The first stop on the tour was in Cleveland, OH, where we spent the morning visiting the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Our first site in Washington, D.C., was a tour of the White House thanks to Congressman Mark Pocan's office. We then saw a performance in Ford's Theater, where Abraham Lincoln was shot, before heading out to do our own performance on the Mall. In the evening we received a tour of the Kennedy Center before ending our evening taking a tour of the WWII Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, and Korean Memorial at dusk.

The next day had even more sites jam-packed into it. We stopped and saw the Supreme Court, the Library of Congress, and took a tour of the Capitol Building. In the afternoon we saw the original Constitution, Declaration of Independence, and Bill of Rights at the National Archives and we finished the day at the Jefferson and F.D.R. Memorials.

Saturday morning we spent a few hours at Arlington National Cemetery watching the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, as well as visiting John F. Kennedy's gravesite. We took in the Iwo Jima Memorial before heading to Georgetown to tour the National Cathedral. The afternoon was spent at the National Holocaust Museum and Smithsonian Museums before we ended our day watching an amazing production of Beauty and the Beast at Toby's dinner theater.

Our last day on the east coast was a short drive up to Pennsylvania to spend the day at Gettysburg. Our students received a bus tour of the battlefield along with time to explore the town. The foggy and rainy day set a somber and eerie tone as we saw monuments and cannons along the way.

Photo courtesy of Stephanie Meir

The trip was a whirlwind, but the students saw and experienced so many iconic places. We were able to entertain a crowd of people outside the Lincoln Memorial and the students made many life-long memories with their friends. Mrs. Meir, Mrs. Krueger and Mr. Hodgson would like to thank all the students and parents for such a positive and fun trip. We would also like to thank Mrs. Yoder, Mr. Perry and our School Board for their support of the trip and allowing us to travel. Thank you to Mrs. Maas and Mr. Edge for their help with the sound system. Thank you to the custodial staff for helping us with equipment. And a big thank you to Douglas Nelson and Jane Simpson (Group Travel Planners) for planning and facilitating our trip.