By By JESSICA SIEFF / Niles Daily Star
Students of the Brandywine High School history club may have a fonder perspective of their country's independence this year after returning from a very special trip to Boston, Mass.
Thousands of pictures taken on the trip to the city that is rich with American history are still being sorted through – but the memories are surely just as fresh as the first day.
"It's important that (the students) know where they come from," said Dave Roeder, Brandywine social studies teacher, who started the history club in 2007.
A total of 41 students and 15 adults went on the trip, traveling by bus to the historical city. "Some of the kids probably have never left Niles or Michigan," aside from quick trips around the area, Roeder said.
Students were able to get a closer look at the home of Paul Revere and learn more about the Freedom Trail and they visited the home of John and Abigail Adams. "It's actually as-is from when he died," Roeder said.
The club took a special haunted tour of the city, visited the John F. Kennedy museum and got an education in the Salem witch trials.
The cost of the trip came to $599 per person – and anyone who wanted to attend was given the chance to use fundraisers to pay their way. Sandy Neldon and her daughters, Ambrosia and Jasmine raised enough money through fundraisers like Port-a-Pit dinners, Notre Dame concessions and selling candy for each of them to make the trip.
"We all were pumped," said Neldon. "We've never been to the East Coast – ever." She is busy sorting through the thousands of pictures collected by all of those who attended the trip, putting them together for a special movie, a copy of which will be given to each student and she said around each corner of the city, there is something historical to see. "I learned a lot of stuff that the history books do not tell you," she added.
Her enthusiasm is shared by her daughters. "Our history club trip to Boston was one of the greatest opportunities I've ever been offered at Brandywine," said Ambrosia. "It allowed all of us to get out and learn about our country's history in a more hands on, fun way."
"It was phenomenal," said Jasmine. "To walk in the atmosphere upon which our nation was founded and I left with a much greater appreciation for the stories that cannot truly be illustrated in textbooks."
Roeder says next year he's planning to take the club to the historical sites of Gettysburg and Williamsburg.
"It's all social," he said about the club that seems to be giving students and their parents a better appreciation for their history and their country. "But while they're having a good time, I hope they learn a little history."