Another Trip - 2009 Inauguration

The Bulldog Close Up Club plans to attend the 2009 Inauguration program in Washington, D.C. during the week of January 17-23, 2009. This will be a historic election and the inauguration will be a once in a lifetime event for all who attend. This awesome program is sure to sell out early so plan on making a commitment as soon as possible but no later than the end of May. Tuition is $1989 for students plus transportation and for adults, $2429 plus transportation. A $500 non-refundable is required (100% refund Close Up sells out before your payment arrives) but we must reserve our group quickly. The final payment is due September 30th.

We will discuss this trip and how to pay for it at our next meeting on April 30th at 6:00 p.m. in room 116. A Close Up representative will be present to answer any question you may have. If you cannot attend, please contact Mr. Chris Billingsley for more information.

Please find attached a few pictures from our trip mid April. Students were able to meet our Georgia senators Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson, take a special tour the Capital building with a guide from Congressman Hank Johnson's office, and sit in on a historic Supreme Court hearing.

Mr. Chris Billingsley

Pictures First Day

Waiting to leave from Hartsfield.

The Close-Up Trip

Hi everybody,

This is Brianna. I just wanted to tell you some of the exciting things we did at Close -Up. My most favorite thing was the Lincoln Memorial and the spot were Martin Luther King Jr. stood for the "I Have a Dream" speech. In the memorial it had his Gettysburg address he read which we had to memorize for Mr. Wonderful. Other great things we say was the Arlington Cemetary in it we could see Robert E. Lee's house and we saw The Tomb of the Unknown Soilder. What was soooo great about The Tomb of the unknown Soilder was The Switching of Guards and the marching of the soilders who are suppose to protect The Unkown Soilders. We also got to see both of our Senators for Georgia and we are going to be on The Close -Up website for a showing of when we saw our Senator Isakson. So look out for that!!! I don't want to spill all the great things we did so I will let the other students who went with me to tell you the other things we saw but, it was a great trip and I hope you can go next year!!!

Close Up Day 2

I spent most of the day away from the students. They were involved in Close Up activities, I did Close Up teacher stuff, the kind of things that would put most students to sleep. We went to capital hill to finalize all student meetings with Senator's Isakson, Chambilss, and Congressman Johnson. Outside of Congressman Johnson's office were the pictures of all soldiers from Georgia that have been killed fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. One of my former students, Jonathan Shields, was among those pictured. I brought this to the attention of Congressman Johnson's staff. One member said that the war against terror is more than a sound bite on the evening news but something that affects all of us in very personal ways. Later I went to the National Press Club and a new museum in D.C. called the Newseum. It had a great exhibit on the Berlin Wall and a very moving exhibit on how reporters covered the attack on 9-11. This evening, I am "chil-laxing" while students are listening to a debate between the conservative ("Boo, Hiss") and liberal ("I think I'm going to cry!") points of view. Overall it was a great day in Washington. Students tell me that that they miss doing all the fun stuff at Decatur High but they will survive.
Having a great time. Hope my students in Decatur are working hard. Will try to post pictures sometime tomorrow.

CloseUp Departure

I arrived at DHS Sunday morning at 4:00. All students were ready to go at 5:00 so I sent everyone to their cars and went back to my room to lock up. When I came back to the front, all the cars were gone! I was alone at DHS! Lucky for me that Mr. Erba and Ms. Knight came back and I was soon on my way to meet the students at the airport. No problems checking in. Flight left on time and was smooth sailing all the way into Baltimore. Arrived at the Marriott at Key Bridge. Nice Place. After checking in, we walked to the Iwo Jima monument. This was way too cool. I tried to explain how important this was to U.S. History but all the students wanted to do was take pictures. Next we walked to Arlington cemetery and saw Kennedy's grave site and the tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Very Impressive! I'm glad I make students memorize part of JFK's inaugural address because reading it at the gravesite made quite an impression on the students. We saw the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. We all really enjoyed this. The long walk was worth the effort. Catherine suggested that we take the subway back, which was a smart idea. Dinner and classes tonight. Big day tomorrow.
Students in my classes- have fun with all the work. We are really "getting down" in D.C.
OGB

I'm really looking forward to this trip. I love Washington D.C.

Props To Mr. OGB

Mr. B, I just wanted to say thank you so much for putting all the time and effort that you have into making this trip possible for us. I know others will agree when I say "OGB rocks!" This is going to be a really great trip.

excited about spring break

I am so exited for this trip. I hope we see George Bush walking around somewhere.

Gabcast

Students on the Close Up trip may use their cell phone to record audio reflections or experiences while on the trip using gabcast.com. I've create a channel on my gabcast account called Bulldog Close Up. Students may ask for the channel number and password to participate.

Click here to subscribe to the Bulldog Close Up gabcast feed.

Each call is an episode, so each participant on the field trip becomes a "reporter". All recordings should be the following format:

• First Name Only - Example: "Hi, this is Kim"
  
• Location - Example: "I'm standing outside the Lincoln Memorial, and WOW!"
  
• Event, Experience or Reflection - Example: "You just cannot tell how large this statue is until you are standing at it."
  

Students, please remember your audience includes family members, friends and other interested parties. If you tend to stumble with words, while leaving a voice mail message---you may want to consider jotting down what you plan to say before recording your episode. We have 30 minutes of record time. Only publish episodes when you have successfully recorded. I will try to monitor the recordings, and delete any unpublished recordings.

Getting Ready

For the past eight months, students, parents and myself have been planning for our Close Up visit to Washington, D.C. I would like students to report on the following topics:

• Preparation
• Departure and Flight
• First Impressions
• Opening Night
• Monday Highlights
• Tuesday Highlights
• Wednesday Capital Hill Day
• Overall Impression of Trip