Thirty-nine Bermuda High School Year 6 students travelled to the US capital, Washington, last month on their first school trip with five chaperones.

The girls visited historical monuments and memorials including the White House, the Lincoln Memorial and had an illuminated tour of several monuments on the second night.

They also visited the Smithsonian American, Natural History and Air & Space Museums, and the Newseum where, to their delight, they saw that day’s front page of The Royal Gazette in an exhibit. At a visit to the zoo, the girls were thrilled to see pandas, elephants, lions and even a mother orang-utan cross a high-wire with her baby on her back!

They then travelled to Williamsburg, Virginia, to learn more about the early settlers and the important connections to Bermuda.

While there, they visited the Jamestown Settlement and they also had a guided tour of the Colonial Williamsburg where they learnt about life in the 17th and 18th centuries.

The tour also visited the historic Yorktown Victory Centre, where US forces finally defeated the British Army in 1781. The girls had a wonderful experience, and they were all excellent ambassadors for BHS and Bermuda!

Olivia Sherratt spoke about her favourite part of the trip: “I loved the rocks and minerals exhibit at the Smithsonian Natural History museum.

“There was even a rainbow wall of crystals! I thought the cherry blossom trees were very beautiful and we saw them everywhere.”

Lily Butler had never been to Washington before and saw many new things: “We got to see Dorothy’s slippers from The Wizard of Oz — they were smaller than I thought they would be. I also really liked the Air and Space Museum where we saw Amelia Earhart’s plane and the very first plane ever flown by the Wright Brothers.

“We also went to George Washington’s house, Mount Vernon, and saw his old bedroom. It was such a fun trip.”