Due to the pandemic, field trips have become a rare occurrence at Tenafly, but this past Monday, the US I History students traveled two hours to visit Philadelphia and see where our country was founded!
In alignment with their current unit on the Constitution, the junior class was able to visit historical landmarks including Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, the Betsy Ross House, and Carpenters’ Hall. Their trip included a ninety-minute Constitutional walking tour with a tour guide who educated students on the foundation of our country’s government as they walked through the streets of Philadelphia. “My favorite part of the trip was the walking tour, shoutout to our tour guide Michael for answering all of our groups’ questions,” Gain Lim (’25) said. The history teachers also decided to include a fun, extra credit photo scavenger hunt for their classes. Some of the selfie categories included a picture with the Liberty Bell’s damaged crack and a photo of the quill used to sign the Constitution. Students were racing around, attempting to get creative and unique selfies with each historical monument and acquire the five extra points!
A significant monument that was seen during the trip was Benjamin Franklin’s grave. Although it is not included in our curriculum’s history textbooks, students were able to learn about the traditions and history surrounding the grave of Franklin. In the past, women often threw pennies on Franklin’s gravestone the day before their wedding to discover the fate of their marriage: heads representing a long, healthy marriage and tails signifying a poor, short-lived marriage. This was based on Franklin’s famous saying, “A penny saved is a penny earned,” and has now become a popular location for university students to visit on the day before a big exam for good luck. Several of our THS students were seen taking out pennies and making their own wishes on the gravestone during this part of the tour.
Although they were surrounded by several historical monuments, the favorite part of the students’ day seemed to be their lunch at the Bourse Building Food Court where they were able to choose a meal from over 25 different local food vendors. “I was able to eat a Philly cheesesteak in Philly for the first time,” Anoushka Chakrabarti (’25) said. Additionally, the entire junior class concluded their trip by going on a Starbucks run together. As almost 200 students each with a Starbucks drink in their hand boarded onto the buses, the Tenafly junior classes said farewellto Philly!
Due to the overwhelming enthusiasm of the students and teachers who attended, the future of this newly restored trip looks bright for the history classes to come.
