By Dennis Jenkins
We had a great trip to Washington D.C. on Wednesday! The students got to see the outside of the White House and visit the Presidents exhibit at the American History Smithsonian Museum. After lunch we toured the inside of the Supreme Court and then got a personal tour of the Capitol from Congressmen Brett Guthrie. We were also entertained by one of the funniest crew members of Southwest Airlines as we returned late Wednesday night.
Thursday morning students discussed what they enjoyed about each part of the D.C. trip before we went to the library computer lab to research what President Obama and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan were doing yesterday while we were in Washington. Students also had the opportunity to research a recent court decision that that was handed down before the Supreme Court’s summer recess. When we returned to the room, students created questions for a Presidential Trivia game we played in the afternoon. Students then formed their own teams to play round two of Beyond Balderdash. After lunch students watched clips from the 1992 debate between President Bush, Governor Clinton and Ross Perot. We then formed posters and participated in our daily debate prep for our role-play of the 1992 election. The class then watched some political satire over the 1992 campaign before being entertained by a debate between Justin, Declan and Sydney as they role-played Bill Clinton, Ross Perot and George H.W. Bush. After the debate was over we watched some Saturday Night Live clips over how the election was portrayed with political satire. Students then participated in our first round of Presidential Trivia at the end of class. Last night in Study Hall students researched three court cases that occurred during the first term of President Clinton.
