Powell Middle School eighth grade honors social studies students took their end-of-the-year field trip to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The trip included many fun events that could rank as favorites for the students: a day at Hershey Park riding roller coasters, raising/lowering/changing out the flags flying over Fort McHenry, seeing the gorgeous fish, reptiles and other animals from all over the world at the Baltimore Aquarium, or watching an Orioles vs. Angels baseball game at Camden Yards.
Many agreed with Miliana Espiritu about her choice, “My favorite part of the trip was the ghost tours in Gettysburg because of everyone’s reactions to the storytelling.” Assistant principal Ginny Powers said, “We have done these many times but this year’s groups were by far the funniest with their reactions.”
Two groups of students visited either Jennie Wade House or Gettysburg Orphanage, both supposedly haunted. Powers recounted the antics of the teachers who increased the intensity of the tours inside the houses by their tapping on the students in concert with the flickering lights or slamming cellar doors causing students and tour guides to jump in reaction.
This truly was a social studies trip and the group soaked up the history in Gettysburg, led by park guide Jim Rouble who has led Powell Middle tours in Gettysburg since 2002. The group visited all of the battlefields, including Culps Hill, Little Round Top and Devil’s Den as well as the Gettysburg Museum, the Cyclorama and the Gettysburg National Cemetery. Guide Rouble has completed more tours for Powell than any other school in his 35-year career.
This was a fast and furious trip, but one these students and teachers will never forget.
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