News

For North Shore Country Day eighth graders, the annual trip to Washington, D.C., has offered a chance to experience history, government and civic life beyond the classroom. This year, the longstanding tradition includes a new dimension: a hands-on service experience that asks students to consider how they can contribute to the communities around them.

Throughout the trip, eighth graders are exploring some of Washington’s most significant institutions and landmarks while engaging with themes of service, citizenship and connection. The experience builds on their study of American history in seventh grade Humanities and extends that learning beyond the classroom.

“The experiences on the trip provide a sort of ‘common text’ for students and teachers to refer back to over the course of the year,” Head of Middle School Rachel Sun explained. “Participating in the trip allows students to connect the knowledge and experience from the classroom with their own lives.”

As in years past, members of the extended North Shore community are also helping create opportunities that take students beyond the typical Washington itinerary. Rachel said those personal connections can be particularly meaningful for middle schoolers, increasing their investment in what they are learning.

Current parent Danny Yonan — father of Aryo ’31 and Arbela ’33 — is welcoming the class to Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox, the Washington law firm where he works. During an afternoon at the firm, students will get an introduction to intellectual property law and put themselves in the role of attorneys as they practice arguing intellectual property cases. The experience will expose them not only to the legal profession but also to skills such as critical thinking, communication and persuasive argument.

A North Shore family connection will also enhance the students’ visit to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, adding another layer of depth and context to their study of history.

These experiences illustrate something that has long been a strength of the North Shore community and is now central to the school’s new strategic plan, Maximize Opportunity. Amplify Impact. Through its “Raiders Forever” priority, NSCD is seeking to build upon the connections among students, alumni, families and friends and create even more opportunities for members of the community to share their knowledge, experiences and expertise with one another.

This year, service is taking on an expanded role in the Washington experience.

For the first time, students will participate in an extended service project as part of the trip, spending time at the Arcadia Center for Sustainable Food and Agriculture in Northern Virginia. There, they will work with their hands to repair equipment and tend to the farm grounds while learning about Arcadia’s efforts to support sustainable farming and increase access to fresh food in underserved communities in the Washington area.

The theme of service also carries into one of the trip’s most meaningful traditions. Four eighth graders will have the honor of representing North Shore Country Day in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery. Interested students applied for the role by writing an essay reflecting on service and what it means to represent their school and community.

Throughout the trip, students are recording their observations and reflections in notebooks at the end of each day. When they return to North Shore, they will revisit and expand on some of those responses in Humanities — an intentional effort to ensure the trip is not simply something students experience and move on from, but something they continue to think about and learn from.

The time away from campus also offers something less formal but equally valuable: opportunities for students to strengthen relationships with their classmates and teachers.

Together, the experiences ask students to do more than observe Washington. They invite them to participate — to wrestle with ideas, contribute through service, learn from others and consider their own responsibilities as members of a community.