Fifty-five Cardington-Lincoln eighth grade students traveled to Washington DC where they made a whirl wind visit which included the annual placing of wreaths on The Vietnam and World War II Memorials.
Traveling with them on the May 20-23 trip were 21 adult chaperones and six Cardington-Lincoln Staff members: Sam Jacobs, Ginger Hollowary, Angie Crissinger, Joe Mills, Troy King and Donna Kill, the latter two organizing the trip.
A highlight of this trip was the introduction of the class members to Navy Commander Paul Fermo, deputy commander of the 838th Air Expeditionary Advisory Group. He is the director of Civil Affairs programs at Shindand Air Base, Afghanistan and a college roommate of Mills, Cardington-Lincoln 7-12 principal. Fermo met the Cardington students at the Pentagon Memorial and spoke to them about his military job during which he served six tours in Iraq and Afghanistan and flew over 120 combat missions as an F-18 Naval Aviator.
The itinerary followed by the group included a tour of the U S Capitol where they saw the US Supreme Court and the Library of Congress; walked by the Ford’s Theatre; visited the National Cathedral and the National Zoo and the Air Force Memorial on the first day in Washington DC.
On May 22 they visited the Arlington Cemetery and the USMC Iwo Jima Memorial and Mount Vernon Mansion. That evening they visited the Korean, Lincoln, Vietnam, World War II, Martin Luther King, FDR and Jefferson Memorials.
Laying the wreaths at the Vietnam and WWII Memorials were Gabrielle Snodgrass, Heather Sparkman, Katie Lester, Shyla Bennett and Brinna McConnell. One of the wreaths they laid was made by Shirley Dendinger of Jenkins-Vaughan Auxiliary Unit 97, Cardington.
On Saturday, the day of the trip, the group had a White House Photo Op at Lafayette Square, visited the Holocaust Museum (Daniel’s story only); and visited a choice of the Smithsonian Museum or the National Archives. They loaded on the coach for departure to Ohio at the Natural History Museum and arrived home at 10 pm May 23.
On the way to Washington the group made a brief stop at Antietam where they toured the museum and ventured across the Burnside Bridge.
The incoming seventh and eighth grade students are reminded to continue to save Box Tops for Education The meeting date and time for the 2016 8th Grade DC trip will be announced at the 2015-16 Junior High open house.
Evelyn Long is a correspondent with the Morrow County Sentinel and can be reached at [email protected].
The full length version of this story and more photos can be found on our website at www.morrowcountysentinel.com.
