Upcoming Meetings for DiDVE! (4/24-5/15)
Now that we are done riding the Red Line, we will meet from 3:30-5:00 on Thursdays in W104 to plan out, script, and create our DiDVE 3-5 minute movies. Students will receive directions, expectations, options and deadlines. These meetings are as important as our outings! Please make sure students attend! We will also spend some of that time in synchronous meet ups with Arkansas!
On April 10, students shared what they are thinking for their topic for their video. While they are not locked in, they are a great start and I hope students move forward with their interests and ideas!
Thursday, April 10, 2025: Takoma
Today we finished the red line in DC! This was a big deal and a little sad at the same time.
Our ride to Takoma was lengthy--almost 40 minutes! This didn't leave a lot of time for snack and exploration....but we did it. First stop was Sticky Fingers Bakery---we enjoyed two celebratory cupcakes made my Cupcake Wars Winner Doron Petersan. Doron has been making vegan cupcakes for more than 20 years! We enjoyed vanilla, chocolate, cookies and cream, cherry blossom, and coconut cupcakes (vegan and vegan/gluten free!).
After getting a little sugar in us, we walked up Cedar Street to the Takoma library--mainly because Ms. Trenkle thinks it's the cutest library in the DCPL system! We walked in to the quaintest library and looked around--Gus even checked out a book! Before long it was time to head back to the train station, but we walked a little through the neighborhood first on the way back--we saw very cute houses, flowers in bloom, and lots of budding trees!
It was a really beautiful final stop!
Thursday, Aprl 3, 2025: Fort Totten
We took off for Fort Totten this past Thursday. Fort Totten is quite different from our other stops—it is very much a transportation hub (buses and green line transfer), very residential, a school and community health center, a community garden, the city dump, and an even a National Park.
Prior to leaving, we read a little about the Civil War forts in DC:
•The neighborhood takes its name from the Civil War fort located at the top of the hill. The fort occupied a high point in advance of the Soldiers' Home or Military Asylum, President's Lincoln summer home.It was built in 1861 and completed in 1863 to provide protection to the capital during the civil war. The fort is named for Joseph Gilbert Totten, a general in the War of 1812.
•The earthworks of the main fort are still clearly visible today, including the surrounding ditch, ramparts, and the walls of the two magazines within the fort. The smaller Totten Battery, which lies 1000 feet to the north, and the connecting rifle trenches can be easily seen as well. The modern-day park is home to a number of picnic benches as well as a Civil War centennial plaque marking the main entrance to the remains of the fort.
There are not eateries at this stop, so we took extra bags of chips with us.
Next week is our last week on the Red Line!
Thursday, March 27, 2025: Brookland-CUA
Our rides on the train are getting longer and longer so we are leaving after school sooner and sooner! This week we had sunny and warm weather as we traveled! Finally! We took off for the Brookland-CUA stop and many of us didn't even want our jackets!! And the cherry blossoms were out and blooming! What a change from all the cold weather and wind we've been encountering most Thursdays!
This week Ms. Clark joined us--special invite by Gus! :) We got off at the Catholic University side and walked through campus to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception--the largest Catholic church in North America. No one in our group had been to campus or the Basilica before. We walked in to the Basilica and enjoyed the beautiful mosaics and artwork work. There are many rooms in the crypt, and off the sanctuary sponsored by countries with a high Catholic population. We were very excited to see the cultural representations!
Snack was at a local favorite restaurant: Busboys and Poets. Busboys and Poets is a community where racial and cultural connections are consciously uplifted… a place to take a deliberate pause and feed your mind, body and soul… a space for art, culture and politics to intentionally collide… we believe that by creating such a space we can inspire social change and begin to transform our community and the world. It was perfect for our DiDVE stop! AND they have very tasty nachos! :)
DiDVE Visits the Capitol!
We had a great day on Friday, March 21 on our US Capitol Tour! Thank you to Mr. Duncan, our RedCoat tour guide Ms. Mikayla, and Mr. Rich! We left school and of course, took the Metro train, red line only!, to Union Station and walked to the Capitol Visitor Center. We saw protests at the US Supreme Court and were really surprised and excited by the very long lines of people to get in to visit the Capitol Building. Leanna found two four leaf clovers as we waiting.
After a few minutes, Mr. Duncan came and got us and sped us through security. We met Ms. Mikayala who started our tour with a stop at both the Frederick Douglass statue (DC state statue) and then Johnny Cash (AR state statue). We had a stop at the Old Supreme Court Chambers, the center of Washington, DC marked by a star, and then visited the Rotunda and enjoyed all the art, from the Apotheosis of George Washington to frieze around the top, to the large scale artworks of moments in US History. Next, Mr. Duncan took us to see where the President lines up for Inauguration and a photo on the Speaker's Balcony--best view in DC!!! :) Our next stop was Statuary Hall where we saw all the different state statues and took a group photo with the other Arkansas statue: Daisy Bates. We stopped in the Old Senate Chambers and then on the floor of the Senate itself---learning where everyone sits, how they vote, and even getting a piece of candy from the candy desk!!!
Mr. Rich took over from there and walked us back through the Rotunda to the other side of the Capitol where we were able to go on the House floor! We saw where the State of the Union takes place every year, how the members of the House vote, and more!
Before leaving, we stopped at the second DC Statue: L'Enfant and then ended our tour with the 13 minute video: E Pluribus Unum (Out of Many One).
This whole morning was spectacular! We have such gratitude for Mr. Duncan in setting this trip up for us, Mr. Rich for joining and taking us to the House side, and Ms. Mikayla for being so kind and a wonderful guide to us!
We were all pretty hungry by the time we finished our morning at the Capitol, so what better place to have lunch than We the Pizza?! Pizza, chicken wings, and a lot of soda was had by all! :)
We walked back through Capitol Hill, back to Union Station, and caught the red line back just in time to get back for the last bell of the day! What a wonderful field trip!
Thursday, March 20, 2025: Rhode Island Ave
On Thursday, March 20 we resumed our red line travels (we had no school the previous week because of Student Led Conferences). We did some quick prep for our field trip on Friday and then got moving! The train rides are consuming more and more of our meeting time as we go farther and farther out from the school.
We took the train to Rhode Island Ave and walked across the pedestrian bridge to the Bryant Street development side. After stopping to check in to see if our snack was ready, we continued walked to "The Art of the Brick"--an exhibit all of Legos. Unfortunately, we couldn't see the exhibit itself (tickets are pricey even with a student discount!!!) but we did get to see one of the Lego models sitting on a bench, and vote in a local Lego contest.
We walked back out, and enjoyed our Taste of the Town from Taqueria Habanero---veggie nachos, and shrimp, steak, and chicken tacos. They were delish! After our snack we enjoyed walking on the Metrobranch Trail--a biking and walking trail that connects a large part of the North Eastern side of the city, looking at local art, and petting dogs that walked by. We were keeping an eye on the darkening sky and decided we didn't have long, so we walked back to the Metro for our picture at that stop.
This was a fun stop for all that was going on, the art, the graffiti on the bridge, and the people. While many had been to the Rhode Island stop before, they hadn't been in this direction and so it was "new" for many on today's trip!
February 20: Metro Center to Gallery Place
And another two-fer week on the Red Line!
This week we got started right away with the intent of leaving school before 4:00 pm! We had an appointment at 5!!!
We also saw the box that arrived from our friends in Arkansas! We can't wait to open it! This week's advisory virtual meet up was rescheduled to next week because of the snow that Arkansas received--and thus a snow day for them! :) We can't wait to meet you all!
In our classroom time, we did a bridge blob person SEL and wrote a question for our DiDVE friends in Arkansas. We are super excited to meet up!
Despite the FREEZING temperatures (our coldest outing yet!!!---30 degrees, but felt like 10 degrees with the wind!!!), we headed off with enthusiasm to the Metro.
We got off at Metro Center this week, where we left off last week, and walked over two blocks to Fords Theater and Petersen House. Unfortunately, Fords Theater has a hard stop of accepting tourists at 4 pm but we did get to into their visitor welcome center and share a little bit of the history. We also picked up one of the NPS Blackbands for the site (a brochure that tells all about that fateful night and the site that we were at!).
We then walked to Chinatown (only a few blocks, but felt like more because of the cold!!) and stopped in a little food hall with all Chinese food businesses. We tried dumplings and bao buns! When in Chinatown you have to have authentic Chinese food! :)
We then double backed a little bit to the MLK Library to meet Ms. Miya, an Archivist for the People's Archive. Ms. Miya pulled archival material for us about the development of DC's Metro!! It was so cool! We saw planning maps, an original ticket used to ride the train, newspapers, photographs, and many, many different types of maps. Our stay was short, but well worth it! Thank you Ms. Miya for pulling all of the materials for us!
And of course, we couldn't leave without going down the children's slide to exit!
On the way out we talked about the Green Book exhibit that is currently at MLK--what the Green Book was and why it even exists.
It was a speedy trip back to Tenleytown (since the train is just outside of the library!!!) and a very, very cold walk back to school!
February 13: Farragut North to Metro Center
Today we did a two-fer! But before we left, of course we had our blob person SEL check in, and we talked about upcoming virtual connection with our friends in Arkansas. We also each contributed one song for our Spring DiDVE playlist. (You can listen here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3RYETyBNBwVcSfSt3RTD0C?si=tFcq1EDUQ2yTV_GJGau_oA )
We started at Farragut North, where we noticed the art on the wall as we exited--the art, symbolized water, and was a reference to Farragut (his statue in site as we left). We walked over to the statue itself and talked a little bit about Civil War History and Farragut's most famous quote, "Damn the torpedos full speed ahead!". We then walked over to Black Lives Matter Plaza, past St. John's, and to Lafayette Park. We talked about the protests at Lafayette Park (esp. of 2020), why the inauguration scaffolding was still up, and who each of the statues in the Park are of (Lafayette, von Steuben, Rochambeau, Kosciuszko, and Andrew Jackson). We couldn't get very close to the White House because of the inauguration scaffolding, but an informal survey had that about half of the students had been in the White House and one quarter to a third had met at least one president.
We walked down H Street to Pow Pow, our community snack for the day--a plant-based fast food stop. Students tried the giant eggroll, sweet potatoes with tahini, and trolley fries, and two different rice bowls.The consensus was that it was nice to try, but didn't want to do a plant based only stop again.
We had a very special treat that Magdalena shared as we left school. Magdalena's dad works for the National Endowment for Democracy and offered to give us a tour of the office and share the stunning view of Pennsylvania Ave. from the outdoor roof! Wow! So amazing to see the office, the mission of NED, freedom in all the different languages, and of course the rooftop view! You you so much John!
It was past 5:30 so we departed quickly and caught the train back to Tenleytown---a very crowded train (one of the most crowded so far!). It was a great day!
February 6: Dupont Circle
We are working our way down the Red Line!
We started with our Blob check in--everyone was feeling pretty tired--it was our first five day week of school in weeks! And the flu is going around. :(
We shared a bit about ourselves by making heads that represent us---they include five symbols and five words.
Afterwards, we headed out! We got off at the Dupont Circle South exit and stopped for our snack--Krispy Kreme! While the "HOT!" sign wasn't lit at the moment, we did enjoy a tasty snack.
We walked to Dupont Circle and discovered the Throne Toilet. Ms. Trenkle used her phone to access it and we all enjoyed checking it out. Most didn't even know about them. They are free public toilets that were surprising clean!!!
We then walked over to the Dupont Fountain and discussed why it's a fountain and not a statue like so many other circles in DC!
From there we headed Northwest down Massachusetts Ave and visited the Ghandi statue (across from the Indian Embassy), tried to go into the Society of the Cincinnati (but it was closed--we just missed it by a minute--literally!), and back by the Phillip's Collection (there was a swanky ticketed event going on!). We walked through the houses and came back out on Connecticut Ave by Sette Osteria and walked past the many shops. We couldn't resist a good bookstore so we went in and compared Kramer and Afterwards to Politics and Prose (near our school).....it was unanimous that P &P was much preferred but the cafe at Kramer and Afterwards looked better. It was then time to head back to school--we entered the subway at the other end of the station--Dupont Circle North.
January 30: Cleveland Park and Woodley Park!
A fast paced day! We started with creating bumper stickers about our city.
We then hit the Metro! We got off at Cleveland Park, investigated Sam's Park and Shop (the first strip mall in the country!), the Uptown Theater (now closed), and walked on the former side road in front of the shops in Cleveland Park that is now a pedestrian walkway. Of course, we couldn't walk past Vace! We enjoyed cheese pizza from the delicious local eatery before walking on.
We continued walking south on Connecticut Ave., over Klingle Valley, met Franklin the very tiny Chihuahua, and then came to the Zoo. We were excited to possibly see the newly arrived pandas (or at least get closer to the new pandas) but were sad to find out the zoo closes at 4 pm in the winter. We took pics in the Zoo sign with the Panda banners, and then continued down the hill.
We then passed Ms. Trenkle's first apt. in DC and found out that some of the students' parents also once upon a time lived in the building! Small world!
When we arrived in Woodley Park, Ms. T shared about the Woodley Park Hotel and Langston Hughes being a busboy there and leaving his poetry. Most know the local chain Busboys and Poets but didn't know the connection to this hotel. Next, we found some great art in the Stanford satellite campus building. As we were peering in the window, the security guard asked if we'd like to go in, sharing that they have an event but we could come in for a few minutes. How great! The exhibit was all about Go Go in DC!!!! We went in to check it out.
We continued down to Connecticut to Calver, crossed the street, and headed back to the Metro.
Our finished Videos from the Fall
Congratulations to Cohort 1!!! Way to go! Below are our final products. Students created a 3-5 minute video of a site from their mental map. Students then shared the history of the site (then and now), and how it shares a sense of belonging for them and/or the community.
