By Samantha Schwartz ’16

We all know the excitement that comes with the announcement of a class field trip, from missing school to experiencing learning in a fun and interactive way. Thus far this school year, many classes have gone on a variety of field trips:

1. AP European History and Comparative Religion classes went to museums in Washington, D.C. in October with social studies teacher Michelle Games. Classes visited the National Gallery of Art to view art from all different eras. The trip was relevant to their lessons about different genres of art in the time periods that they developed. The Comparative Religion classes went to the Sackler Museum to experience Buddhist, Islamic, Hindu and Ancient Chinese artifacts because the class was learning about early religions in the East.

2. The history honor society at Sherwood, Rho Kappa, went on a field trip to the Spy Museum in D.C. on October 26, hosted by social studies teacher and Rho Kappa sponsor Nicole Glover. The officers and other students involved in Rho Kappa chose where to go on field trips due to the majority’s interests. The honor society decided on the Spy Museum because many wanted to learn more about the Cold War and learn about it from a different perspective. Rho Kappa will be attending the Newsuem and the White House later this school year.

3. Wildlife Biology classes took a trip to the Chesapeake Bay on November 5, led by science teacher Glenn Miller. On the Chesapeake Bay the classes canoed and learned about biodiversity, environmental impacts of developed areas, different reusable materials used to make buildings and investigated water quality. Before the trip, the Wildlife Biology classes were learning about ecology and biodiversity of the Chesapeake.

4. Social studies teachers Beth Shevitz, Michelle Games and Josh Kinnetz led a field trip on November 21 to the dinner theater Medieval Times with their AP World History classes. In classes, students were learning about cross-cultural communications and trade during the seventh to fifteenth centuries as well as the political and labor systems in Europe at that time. By going on the trip to Medieval Times, a restaurant where costumers eat like they would in the Middle Ages and experience a medieval show filled with jousting, kings and queens, and more, the students learned “about the social, political hierarchy of Europe in the Middle Ages … to give the students a glimpse into social history and entertainment,” said Shevitz.

5. AP Environmental classes and science teacher Laura Dinerman took students on a three-day trip to the Karen Noonan Center on the eastern shore of the Chesapeake Bay. “We [lived] for three days in an old hunting lodge converted into an environmental learning center. While there, we [went] crabbing, oystering, exploring marshes, visiting Smith Island and progging,” said Dinerman. The purpose of the trip is to explore environmental and social issues of the Chesapeake Bay. This trip was offered to the class as they were learning about human impacts on the environment, but only a few spaces were available. Dinerman and 20 students left November 23 and returned November 25 to share their findings with other AP Environmental students.