People are just as happy as they make up their minds to be. ~Abraham Lincoln

Greetings,

100% unadulterated joy! Those are the words I would choose to describe the feeling that captured our fifth grade students today as we journeyed to visit our state capitol in Springfield, IL. As our coach buses departed Sleepy Hollow School at 6:00 a.m., one student commented, “This is so exciting, I’ve been waiting for this day since we found out about the trip.” Emotions were high as we traveled to Springfield. I had the privilege of riding in the last seat of the bus with one of our students. This provided a “birds-eye” view into all of the happenings taking place on the bus. Students were polite, kind, and respectful to each other. Most interesting was the wealth of electronics that they were using. The two students in front of me were nestled together, sharing the ear buds to an IPod Shuffle (60 gig – I asked), while they watched a movie on it.

Aside from a variety of electronics being played, the electronic that generated the most excitement were Nintendo DS’s. Almost every other student had one and they used them to “IM” each other – over, and over, and over! It was hilarious listening to them as they conversed through the DS’s. Since I was sitting in the back seat I could see (and monitor) several of their screens. At one point, I borrowed a student’s DS, signed in and sent a few messages. This garnered quite a response! If only I had known, I would have brought one of my son’s DS’s and could have stayed at their party a little longer. 

Arriving in Springfield brought many oohs and ahs from the students. It seemed I was traveling with the paparazzi as they broke out their cameras and began shooting photographs. The students were in awe as we pulled into the capitol and began our tour. We took a group picture in front of the capitol, visited Lincoln’s home, tomb, and war memorials. After a quick lunch, we had a guided tour of the state capitol and then visited the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum. We wrapped up our visit with dinner at a pizza buffet and then began our trip home, safely arriving at Sleepy Hollow at 9:30 p.m. It was quite a day filled with learning opportunities that will last a lifetime.

If you are thinking about taking a short trip with your family this summer, I would highly suggest visiting Springfield. It will be time well spent.

Anastasia