Now that I’m finally teaching US History this semester at my new school, it was the perfect time to plan my annual field trip to Boston! For the last 7 years, I’ve taken 50 students on a day trip to walk the Freedom Trail, have lunch at Quincy Market, and tour the USS Constitution. We are only 2 hours from Boston so it’s an easy trip for one day.
The Freedom Trail is comprised of numerous historic sites in the city of Boston, highlighting Boston’s Puritan and Revolutionary past. For school groups, costumed ‘Colonial’ guides take students on a 90-minute walking tour on part of the Freedom Trail, interacting with the students and telling stories/historic information at each stop. I’ve requested one guide in particular, Jeremiah Poope, for the last several years because he holds the attention of my students by using humor throughout his stories!
We get to have lunch and do some shopping for about an hour in historic Quincy Market. The kids love walking around to the shops and eating at one of the MANY food court choices! I indulged in a delectable cannoli!! If you are in Boston you should go to Mike’s Pastry in the North End (which is the Italian section of Beantown) who are renowned for their cannolies!
While I prefer to spend my money on fine baked goodies, my teenage students have other items in mind…Please note the ‘horse heads’ and ‘giant box of Nerds’ in the picture below…
Both fine souvenirs of Boston for sure! Ha ha! They never cease to amuse me! Finally, we ended our trip by touring the USS Constitution, which is the world’s oldest warship still afloat. The ship was used in battle during the War of 1812. Free tours of the ship are given by active duty members of the US Navy. The students enjoy walking around and hearing about what it was like aboard ship!
A little tip for all you teachers out there…buy a TracFone for field trips (my school reimbursed and other teachers use it, too)! Essentially you pay about $20 for the phone itself and then you can buy cards with prepaid minutes. This way you can give the students the cell number for the ‘field trip phone’ and they can call you if they need you without calling your personal cell number! Gives me peace of mind while they are walking around during lunch and on the tour! We had a great time on this trip, for sure!
