by Dennis Jenkins
Presidential Politics had a great trip to Washington, D.C., this past weekend. On July 4, we began class by discussing what the day means to them and what traditions Americans have on our Independence Day. We also examined the presidency of Bill Clinton, and two of our students role-played the debate between Bob Dole (Elizabeth) and Bill Clinton (Maggie). Several students took part in a round-table discussion over the court case Agostini v. Felton. We watched part of the John Adams movie Independence so students could see what it was like when our founding fathers broke away from Britain. Students also participated in the team game Beyond Balderdash before we ended the day. We left for our field trip on Thursday night, and our class got to see fireworks all across Kentucky and West Virginia as we made our way to Washington D.C.
After we arrived on Friday morning, our class visited the inside of our country’s Supreme Court, the United States Capitol, and the outside of the White House. We also saw the National Museum of American History, and we joined the other two VAMPY classes, Pop Culture and Nazi Germany and the Holocaust, to take a tour of many of the national monuments.
We returned to WKU on Saturday morning. On Sunday night, students worked on their Mount Rushmore project and prepared for the Presidential Face-Off Debate Tournament that will take place during the last week of camp when students will also continue to examine important presidential, congressional, and judicial decisions of the 21st century.
Note: Teacher Dennis Jenkins will be posting updates on his course, Presidential Politics, throughout VAMPY.
