So Much to See and Learn

Middle School Learning Journeys

Middle school takes learning on the road with class trips that enhance their educational experience.

George Walton Academy believes in the power of learning beyond the four walls of a classroom. This philosophy is demonstrated through the middle school class trips that each grade level embarks upon every spring.

Eighth graders enjoyed a class trip adventure that covered points of interest and opportunities to engage in Tennessee and Georgia. Starting in Chattanooga, students explored the Tennessee Aquarium, the Challenger Space Center, and the Chickamauga Battlefield as they learned about important events in both science and history. Their educational journey continued as they boarded the Incline Railway for a trip to Lookout Mountain and Rock City. Their next stop was New Echota and the start of the Trail of Tears. They visited Etowah where they climbed mounds created by Native Americans and were

able to relate them to the Native American myths they had studied. The class made a final stop at the Tellus Museum to observe a planetarium show and a dinosaur exhibit, completing a three-day excursion into realworld experiences and reflections on historic sites and events.

As a culmination of their research and reportwriting unit on Washington, D.C., seventhgrade students visited our nation’s capital to synthesize their class-based learning with real-life experiences and exposure. Students visited the monuments, memorials, and museums they researched, which shed light on a variety of historic and current-day points of view. Highlights of the trip included a stop at Mount Vernon, Arlington National Cemetery, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and the monuments, memorials, and museums surrounding the National Mall.

Sixth-grade students traveled to the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for three days at Space Camp, where they were immersed in all things science and space. While there, students participated in a simulated space mission, built and fired their own rockets, and explored the history of space exploration. They toured a replica of the International Space Station and learned how astronauts survive in space and how they spend their time. The simulators that replicated different aspects of space travel were the highlight for most students.

These educational journeys not only reinforce lessons taught in the classroom, they spark imagination and creativity as students begin to envision possible college majors and future careers.

“During our trip to Chattanooga, I really enjoyed visiting the Tennessee Aquarium. And seeing the Native American sites and battlefields really brought history to life.”

– WILLIAM FERGUSON, EIGHTH GRADE