Arrived around 12:00 in Baltimore. Great Flight (It must have been all my prayers. Broke the "Separation of Church and State"
commandment big time!). The captain told us that it had warmed up, from minus 9 to minus 4 degrees! Since there was no wind, it didn't seem so bad. This pic is the crew on the bus to D.C. Mr. Herndon had just finished a great lecture on "How to Count Off Properly". The Crystal City Marirott is is a fabulous hotel. The students were a little disappointed that instead of having four DHS students per room, we have two and two students from another school. Most of the kids in our program are from Florida and California. Only one complaint so far, from two of our students that said they were having some "trust issues" with their roommates from Florida. I told them it would get better. Since dinner was served at 4:00, we decided to chill until we
ate. After a great meal, most of the students and I went to do some shopping at the Pentagon Shops. A few students remained at the hotel with the chaperons. The mall was crawling with Obama-maniacs- Shirts, Buttons, Jewelry. Everyone was wearing something about Obama. The prices were a little too high for our students.
I told them that we could find some bargains Friday morning before we
leave for the airport. Tonight the students are in their first workshop.
It took a while for all the students to find the correct location but they
finally made it. Hope all will blog something about the first day.
Tomorrow is a big day. Students and teachers have workshops in the
morning and in the afternoon, we will all go to the mall to the big
concert. I sure hope that Snoop Dogg shows up and sings, or whatever.

I will try to see all students tomorrow morning before I leave for teacher
field trips. After workshops, students will go to presidential memorial-
Lincoln, Jefferson, Roosevelt. In the afternoon, we will go to the
concert together.
So far, so good.

Mr. Chris Billingsley
Decatur High School