Ava did her own post all about her trip to Washington DC for History Day. All the students who won first or second place in their categories at the state level competition were eligible to go to Washington DC for the national competition. Ava and her partner, Aspen, did a documentary titled, "Ink, Imagination, Inequality: Women Revolutionizing Animation." Aspen wasn't able to go to DC, but many other friends from Hawaii went. Ms. Spring (Ava's 5th grade teacher) was Ava's chaperone for the week. Now, presenting Ava's post in her own words:
Day 1 - Friday, June 13
I flew to DC with Mrs. Spring, had a layover in San Francisco
Day 1.5 - Saturday, June 14
And when we landed early the next morning, we met up with my other friend Sakura (who was also my roommate). We were staying at the University of Maryland.
When we went to the STAMP hub to get lunch, saw a statue of Greg Heffley, he's a character from a book I like. The author went to this school so they made a statue for him. Another famous graduate from the university is Jim Henson.
After unpacking we went to the Washington DC temple, it is so pretty and tall. We didn't get reservations to do baptisms, but it was still nice to walk around. This is our group from Laie/Kahuku but there were lots more representing the state of Hawaii.
Inside the visitors center there was a really cute colonial house with stuff about family.
Here's our dorm, room 705 Elkton hall:
It's was small, but was comfy.
First thing that morning we went to register, at it was packed to the max
We also got pins to trade, we started with only Hawaii pins but by the end of the trip I got 47/49 state pins plus 5/6 international pins.
We had to ride the metro all over the place
We got sack lunches for the days we were out and about, and they were always the same lunch: a turkey sandwich, a apple, two chocolate chip cookies and a water bottle.
Cute photo of us on the Washington monument
Here's a video of us:
what ever this is🤣
Since it was Trump's birthday, there was military guys getting ready for the party
This was Chuck Berry's 1973 Cadillac Eldorado convertible.
And then we went back to the college for the opening ceremony. The guest speaker was Hazel Avivah, who got her current job because of a documentary she did for NHD, and now she is Brand Manager for Stan Lee's intellectual property.
Day 3 - Monday, June 15
Monday was the day we all had been waiting for, competition day! My interview was at 10:40, I was nervous because my partner couldn’t come with me, so I was worried that I would mess up. But it went well, and after that I went around cheering on my friends.
Thank you Mrs. Spring!!!
Day 4 - Tuesday, June 16
The next morning we went to the natural history museum. It’s tradition for all of the Laie kids to spell out Laie, so we did it here.
There was a new statue of a mama buffalo and her baby outside the museum that was built for the 250th birthday.
It was cool seeing the dinosaurs and sea creatures, but me and Sakura stayed at the gemstone section forever because we liked looking at the colorful diamonds. And we also got to see the hope diamond and it was gorgeous.
.jpeg)
Then after that we when to the holocaust museum. Each visitor got a little book about a person during WWII and we were able to see what our person was doing during the war. The museum had the actual beds from the concentration camp and the train cars that they were transported in.
it was so crazy to see all of the horrible things that happened during that time and the stories of people.
At the very last room there were candles all over for the people who went to the camps and in the middle there was a big fire for everyone who died during WWII.
Right at the exit there was an old woman who was a museum volunteer. She was in one of the camps when she was little, she had an amazing story.
Run offs for the competition were to be announced later that night, and when we just finished dinner they got announced, I WAS IN!
Later that night there was a dance, but me and Sakura used the opportunity to trade for pins, including the ultra rare Guam pin.
Day 4 - Wednesday, June 16
The next day we went to the American history museum for an hour, and we got to see the star spangled banner, the First Ladies dresses and dishes, but my favorite exhibit was the film section.
There was Lin Manuel Miranda’s costume from Hamilton!
And the original Kermit and Fozzie bear.
We also got to see Lincoln’s hat
After that we went the air and space museum. This is where I got Audrey and Kai’s souvenirs, Audrey got freeze dried skittles and Kai got a little Astronaut stuffy.
This was Neil Armstrong's space suit when he landed on the moon.
and they also had the Wright brothers airplane!
After the air and space museum, we had 2 hours to kill, so we rented electric scooters and rode all over the mall and saw the monuments that way. I was going so fast!
After that me and Mrs. spring went back to the college while everyone else went to national archives. I was pretty worried about run offs because these were the judges I needed to impress, but I didn't need to interview this time so it was all up to my documentary.
Day 7 - Thursday, June 18
We went to the Xfinity stadium for the closing ceremony and it was packed with 3,000 students and over 10,000 total people (including teachers, judges, families, and volunteers). The closing ceremonies took four hours, so everyone around me was falling asleep.
Before the ceremony started everyone would walk laps around and it was a NHD state parade! The Hawaii group was all wearing yellow shirts you can see in this video:
I got fourth place in the junior group for documentaries! I'm proud that I got fourth, but first is better! But the experience was really fun, and I'm really glad I went.
From Hawaii two people got 3rd place, three people got special awards, and three made it to run offs (including me). I'm guessing there were about 65 students from Hawaii there.
After closing ceremony, we went to the capitol to meet our senators and representatives.
We saw the judicial court on our way out of the capitol building.
Then we went to the library of congress.
The painted roof was beautiful.
Then that evening we when on a monuments tour on a giant golf cart.
We saw all of the monuments like the MLK monument
and the Lincoln monument. (we also go ice cream too)
Day 8 - Friday, June 19
The next morning we went to the spy museum, and it was cool to see all of the different gadgets. There were a lot of immersive games like seeing how long you can hang on a pole and seeing if your opponent will electric shock you. (I shocked everyone)
There was an experience where it would take a photo of you and then you answer some questions like gender and age and then it looks like you are under cover.
There was an umbrella gun!
Mrs. Spring was so helpful this year to me and Coen. I have no idea how she teaches during the day and helps 30 kids with their projects after school! She was so fun to be with at DC. I am forever grateful. Love you Mrs. Spring!!!!!
Getting out of the metro station we had to take the longest escalator ever!
Then we went to the zoo, and saw the pandas! They were so cute. This is Qing Bao, and a sign said that even though she isn’t pregnant, she was acting like she was, so she was very sleepy/lazy.
And this is Bao Li, and he was munching on bamboo sticks the whole time.
There was a baby elephant that was 5 months old named Linh Mai and she is the first Asian elephant born at the zoo in nearly 25 years. She was so cute drinking her bottle!
I had such a fun group to travel with, we had such a fun time.
Day 9 - Saturday, June 20
See ya Washington DC! See you next year!
