Class Trip Celebrates Local History

By Meaghan Cleary and Nick Santoro

For our eighth grade class trip, we went to Boston, Massachusetts. We were the first students to visit Boston for a class trip, and we had a great time. To raise money to help pay for the trip, we had many successful fundraisers such as our Calendar Raffle, the St. Nicholas Fair, and the Pancake Breakfast.

To prepare for our trip, each student was assigned a historical site or event relating to Boston. We were asked to research places and events such as Revolutionary War, Beacon Hill and the State House, and Fenway Park. Each group made a model, poster, and presented a report relating to the site. During the trip each group presented their information at their site-in front of the tour guide, Linda!

APRIL 30, WEDNESDAY - DAY ONE:
After Mass and much excitement, we loaded onto the bus and left our school and our families behind. Our first stop was the House of the Seven Gables in Salem. It was especially interesting because our own classmate, Dan Evans, is related to Nathaniel Hawthorne, the man who wrote the famous novel, The House of the Seven Gables, and lived in the house!

From there we walked to the Salem Witch Museum. We witnessed the Salem Witch trials and the events that occurred in 1692. It was so lifelike that we were uneasy as we watched.

Then Charlie, our bus driver, drove us to Quincy where we settled into our rooms at the new Marriott Hotel. It was fancy, and we were very pleased to be on our own with our friends. Later we went to the California Pizza Kitchen for dinner and then on to the Mugar Omni Theater to see “Pulse: A Stomp Odyssey”.

MAY 1, THURSDAY - DAY TWO:
After breakfast in the hotel, we were ready to go to Minuteman National Park. We watched a great multi-media presentation and learned new and interesting things about the Revolutionary War. We visited other sites from battles of the Revolutionary War in Lexington and Concord. We stood on the Old North Bridge just like the Minutemen and the Regulars in the 1700’s.

From there we went to Faneuil Hall to have lunch and shop. After purchasing some great souvenirs, we headed up to the State House on Beacon Hill. We met with our State Representative, Karyn Polito, and took a tour of the State House. We watched a debate, and then we were introduced on the floor of the House of Representatives by the Speaker of the House. It was our first appearance on TV! We went back to the hotel to get ready for our dinner and dance cruise on The Spirit of Boston on the Boston Harbor.

FRIDAY, MAY 2 - DAY THREE:
On the last day, the wake-up call jolted our haggard bodies out of bed, and we wandered down to the breakfast buffet. We visited the Mayflower II and Plimoth Rock. We were able to see what it was like to be a passenger on the Mayflower in 1620. After that we went to Plimoth Plantation's Pilgrim Village. From there went to the Boston’s North End for a tasty treat at Mike’s Pastries and a walk around the city.

We had dinner at the Hard Rock Café then went on to Fenway Park. Even though the Red Sox lost to the Minnesota Twins, it was an exciting time. Our names appeared on the message board next to the Green Monster-“Fenway welcomes the St. Mary School Class of 2003!”-- and, again, we were on TV!

We owe great thanks to our families for letting us travel in this stressful time in the world. Thanks as well to our chaperones, Mrs. Gannon, Fr. Dennis O'Brien, Fr. Tim Clark (Fr. Dennis's friend who flew in all the way from Seattle, Washington!), and Mrs. O’Brien. We had a blast!