Backyard Bound field trips offer Washington, DC students a chance to gain a deeper appreciation for all their hometown has to offer and build their sense of belonging and ownership over our nation’s greatest institutions. Let's show you an example of what a student might experience on a trip!
The Backyard Bound morning starts when students are picked up from their Washington, DC middle school by an iconic Old Town Trolley and welcomed with AEF backpacks filled with snacks, water and other goodies for the day. No field trip to the nation’s capital is complete without a guided tour of the monuments, museums and sights of the National Mall and Capitol Hill.
The Trolley drops the group off at the historic Ford’s Theatre for a special weekday student matinee. Ford’s Theatre offers these matinees with tailored lessons to complement the classroom curriculum and inspire audiences to become compassionate leaders in their own communities. The Theatre offers a limited number of free tickets to D.C. public schools, Title I schools and schools that have 40 percent or more students eligible for FARMs. Your classroom can also attend one of these great performances by contacting Ford’s Group Sales office.
A full morning has made the group hungry but not to worry! Le Pain Quotidien is right up the street from Ford’s Theatre and has something to satisfy everyone. Convenient individual or group boxed catering with a variety of breakfast, lunch and dinner selections are the perfect on-the-go meal for groups, especially when taken for a picnic on the iconic National Mall only a few blocks away.
After a sunny picnic lunch on the National Mall, the group stops to take a photo in front of the Washington Monument. There’s no better way to remember your perfect Washington, DC day!
Afterwards, it’s on to the newest museum on the Mall, the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture! There’s so much to see at the museum, both inside and out. The building’s metal exterior pays homage to the intricate ironwork crafted by enslaved African Americans found across the southern United States. The four-level museum opened in 2016 and is the only national museum solely dedicated to the documentation of African American life, history and culture.
The group finishes the day with a trip to the International Spy Museum. The museum’s interactive exhibitions and installations put *you* in the life of a real-life spy thriller, while you gather intelligence, solve puzzles and learn the tricks of the trade. The Museum holds the foremost collection of spy artifacts in the world with first-person accounts from top intelligence officers and experts.
