As the last week of school before the winter break wrapped up, students were treated to a field trip. On Dec. 21, the A-Blast, yearbook, and creative writing students took a trip to the Newseum in Washington D.C. The Newseum is a museum that chronicles the history of journalism, and how it has changed and expanded over the years.

For journalism students, the trip is part of their final exam grade. They now have to write an evaluation of their favorite exhibit. Many of the students enjoyed the field trip, and were glad to get away from their classes.

“I really enjoyed it, I can’t wait to come again,” sophomore Abi Belayneh said. Belayneh is a creative writing student.

The students left their W8 classes at 9:00 to wait in the jock lobby for the buses to arrive. When they arrived at the Newseum, students were treated to a short 4-D movie that talked about how journalism has changed over the years, giving Isaiah Thomas, Nellie Bly, and Edward Murrow as examples. Isaiah Thomas reported on the Battle of Lexington and the Battle of Concord during the Revolutionary War. Nellie Bly was one of the first investigative journalists and Edward Murrow was a pioneer in broadcast journalism.

After the movie, the students were given time to look around the exhibits. Some of the many exhibits included an exhibit on sports journalism, broadcast journalism and photo journalism. The photo journalism exhibit showed all of the Pulitzer Prize-winning photographs up to 2011.

“I loved the exhibit where we could see all the Pulitzer Prize-winning photographs,” junior Gwen Levey said. “And the 9/11 exhibit was really powerful.”

The 9/11 exhibit focused on the reporters who witnessed and reported on the event. It included a collage of pictures taken by Bill Biggart, a photographer who died as he was taking pictures of the 9/11 attacks. There was also a short movie about the 9/11 attacks, and a timeline of how the attacks were reported on. There were tissue boxes placed strategically around the exhibit, and were used.

“It was really cool,” sophomore Katie Thomas, another creative writing student said. Both Belayneh and Thomas had the opportunity to go inside one of the broadcast studios to see what they were like.

For many students, the trip was an opportunity to get out of classes, learn something new and get credit for their final exams.