By Molly Seales
On Tuesday, May 17 through Thursday, May 19, the Riverdale Academy 8th grade class traveled to South Louisiana for the annual Louisiana History Trip. The students began their trip by having lunch at the PastTime in Baton Rouge, followed by a tour of the Louisiana State Capitol Building. Students got to meet State Senator Louie Bernard, who recognized the group from the Senate floor when the afternoon session began. They also had an opportunity to go to the top of the building for photo ops and a view of the city. Next, they traveled to the Louisiana Old State Capitol where they got to view the beautiful architecture and saw “The Ghost of the Castle” interactive short film.
Later that afternoon they got a VIP tour of Tiger Stadium and had a blast taking pictures by the field where the Tigers run out. They also enjoyed sitting in Joe Burrow’s former spot in the locker room. After the tour, the group attended an LSU vs. NSU baseball game at Alex Box Stadium. After the game, the group departed for New Orleans.
Wednesday morning, the group made its first stop at Mardi Gras World, where the students and chaperones had an interactive experience making a Mardi Gras mask, followed by a guided tour of the museum where they got to see floats being made. After that, they went to the World War II Museum for lunch, a tour, and the movie Beyond All Boundaries.The group then headed to the French Quarter where they enjoyed beignets at Café du Monde, saw St. Louis Cathedral, took a picture at the Moonwalk, and did a little souvenir shopping. Finally, they boarded the City of New Orleans Steamboat for a relaxing dinner cruise on the Mississippi River.
On Thursday, the group departed New Orleans for Houma’s House Plantation, which was beautiful and had some rich history about our state. The final stop on the trip was an airboat swamp tour at Basin’s Landing near Lafayette. The group got to see some beautiful scenery and an alligator or two.
I asked some of the students what their favorite part of the trip was, and here are some of the responses. Alaina Boyd said her favorite things were walking around New Orleans and the World War II Museum because she loves learning about history. Ben Moseley, the class history buff, said his favorites were the World War II Museum and the airboat swamp tour. Tyler Wilhite loved the World War II Museum, while his brother Mason enjoyed the museum as well as the City of New Orleans Steamboat dinner cruise. Julia Grace Riggs enjoyed the LSU and NSU baseball game as well as the World War II Museum, where she liked learning about the pilots.
8th grade LA History teacher Bethany Seales would like to thank all of the chaperones who went and all of the people who supported this class on their fundraisers. Because of the community generosity, the class was able to earn enough money that each student was able to do everything on the trip without out-of-pocket expenses in New Orleans. They were truly blessed with this opportunity and will have the memories for a lifetime.
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