AP US History teachers plan upcoming field trip

During a spring break trip to Washington, D.C., five years ago, history teacher Matt Torrens and his students biked around the National Mall, approaching the Lincoln Memorial and the reflecting pool across from the Washington Monument.

In 2006, Torrens took 12 of his students to New York and Boston to enhance their understanding of the material they had been studying in class. In 2009, 2011 and 2013, Torrens provided a similar opportunity for his students, exploring well known monuments in Washington, D.C.

Since then, there haven’t been any other field trips available for AP U.S. History students.

That’s why Torrens and fellow teacher Faith Daly are planning another trip to Washington, D.C., during February break of next year, but only for students taking APUSH in the 2017-18 and 2018-19 school years.

Daly emphasized that the field trip isn’t a requirement but instead a “supplemental opportunity that is open to those enrolled.”

One reason there haven’t been field trips for APUSH students is that history teachers have been unable to chaperone the trips due to other commitments.

For example, with Torrens becoming History Bowl team adviser since 2005, club members have been going on a five-day D.C. trip to the National History Bowl competition since 2014, staying for three days of competition and two days of sightseeing. For Daly, she wished to care for her younger children until they reached certain age before she traveled again.

For now, the trip is still in its planning stages. There are several parent meetings to be held before the trip gets approved by the administration, which requires a minimum of 35 students to sign up.

Students will travel to Boston, Cambridge, Lexington and Concord, New York City, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Williamsburg and Jamestown. In each city, students and chaperones will take a bus tour to explore various historical landmarks and monuments. There is also a planned trip to see a Broadway show, but it is undecided what show the students will be watching.

Both Torrens and Daly agree that field trips such as the one being planned reinforce the material students learn in class.

“We both see the absolute need to get out and touch history, especially colonial and pre-civil war history, and so much of it took place on the East Coast,” Torrens said.

For Daly, it’s important that students get to experience field trips, especially to locations where important historical events occured.

“This is something I've wanted to do for a while, since field trips to the places we study add a greater depth and meaning to learning,” Daly said.