InTheLoopKids iReporter

Every year, eighth grade students from Providence Christian School of Texas travel to Washington D.C. for a week to learn more about our nation’s extensive and fascinating history, as well as to grow closer together as a grade. This April, the students had the opportunity to visit the nation’s capital and many of its famous fixtures, such as the Smithsonian museums, Library of Congress, Capitol Hill, an array of monuments, memorials, and much more, seeing artifacts and locations that they have learned about throughout the year. On the steps of the Capitol, the students met with Congressman Pete Sessions, who talked to them about both the great sacrifices and rewards of pursuing a political career.

Besides exploring the city, students traveled to surrounding historical sites including Williamsburg, Jamestown, and Gettysburg, as well as the homes of famous Founding Fathers, particularly George Washington’s Mount Vernon and Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello.

A favorite of the week was a morning spent at Arlington National Cemetery, where students saw, and a few even participated in, the renowned Changing of the Guard ceremony. One student says the trip to the cemetery “was a great learning experience,” and many agree that they appreciated seeing the thousands of tombstones honoring soldiers and heroes who gave the ultimate sacrifice for their country.

Arlington National Cemetery remains a prominent and annual destination, but this year students also saw a once-in-a lifetime event. The eighth graders witnessed NASA’s Discovery space shuttle, perched atop a 747, make its final flight around the D.C. skyline before retiring at the Smithsonian.

Other favorites included the Newseum, a museum that shows how the press and newspapers have helped tell and shape history over the years, and Monticello, Jefferson’s beautifully self-designed estate.

The eighth graders also enjoyed down time at the monuments’ various parks and outings to places like Georgetown.Year after year, the eighth grade D.C. trip proves to be the highlight of the school year, as students leave with both a deeper knowledge of America’s history and current events, as well as a closer bond with one another.

Anna Kate Benedict is a Providence Class Eight student who graduates in May.

During the month of May, McKinney Independent School District is conducting a district-wide satisfaction survey and needs your help.  

Parents whose children attend schools throughout McKinney ISD are encouraged to provide feedback as the district plans for the future and learns more about the experiences and opinions of stakeholders in the community.

If you'd like to participate in McKinney ISD's School Quality Survey, please click here.

A year's worth of history, music, and art concluded with the Providence Pioneer Day for Class Two students on April 11 as parents brought to life the American experience of the nineteenth century.

The day started out with the Trail Bosses (dads) rounding up all the Class Two students and corralling them to the prairie (Great Hall), which had been transformed into a Pioneer setting. Students sang folk songs, panned for gold at the gold rush station, and pulled wool. At the shaving station, they practiced shaving with butter knives. Students also played with antique toys that could have very well belonged to Laura Ingalls Wilder. 

The Pioneer boys and girls and some Native Americans square danced, and they finished their day with a picnic on the range.  Will Huffman said, “I liked seeing the live buffalo, an animal they probably used for fur and food.”

Since 1989, Providence Christian School of Texas has provided academically able students from preschool to 8^th grade with a challenging educational experience designed to help them know, love, and practice that which is true, good, and excellent, and to prepare them to live purposefully and intelligently in the service of God and man.  Providence’s core values are faith, family, intellect, counterculturalism, and stewardship. More information about the School can be found by calling 214-302-2800 or by visiting www.pcstx.org.

Colonists who looked like they stepped off the Mayflower were abundant as Providence Class One students immersed themselves in colonial life on April 4.  The Great Hall was transformed into a colonial settlement decorated with American Revolutionary flags, quilts, and stations where the students participated in hands-on activities of the period.  The children and their mothers (and a dad or two) dressed in bonnets and period dresses for girls, and coats, breeches, and tricornered hats for boys.

The Sons of the American Revolution conducted an educational flag presentation ceremony followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.  Then, Martha and George Washington shared their personal history with anecdotes about colonial life. A Colonial couple demonstrated the minuet, a dance popular during the time.

Students made butter and ate food in the Colonial kitchen, dipped candles, embroidered bookmarks, and wrote with feather quill pens.  They learned about muskets, uniforms, and ammunition used during this time period. Outside, students bobbed for apples and played games, such as rolling hoops. They also created artistic frames for photos of themselves to help them remember this historic day.

According to Colonist-for-a-day William Coulter, “Colonial Day helped me learn more about how they lived when they first arrived here in the 1600s. I liked it when the teachers were sent to the stockades for assigning homework and other crimes.”

Since 1989, Providence Christian School of Texas has provided academically able students from preschool to 8^th grade with a challenging educational experience designed to help them know, love, and practice that which is true, good, and excellent, and to prepare them to live purposefully and intelligently in the service of God and man.  Providence’s core values are faith, family, intellect, counterculturalism, and stewardship. More information about the School can be found by calling 214-302-2800 or by visiting www.pcstx.org.

Reminder: Allen ISD will be closed on Friday, April 6 for a Student & Staff Holiday.  Classes will resume on Monday, April 9.

For more information, please visit the Allen ISD website.