Photographs of the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Arlington National Cemetery, taken by the author on her recent visit to Washington, DC.

Most educators would agree that one of the most efficient methods of experiential learning is travel. One of the best destinations for travel is our nation’s capital city, Washington, DC. This city is home to a multitude of worthwhile museums and historical sites. Among these is Arlington National Cemetery.

The cemetery is located in Arlington County, Virginia, just across the Potomac River from the capital city. The hallowed grounds span 624 acres, and house the remains of our nation’s military dead and other notables from American history. Names familiar to history students are too numerous to name.

My husband and I were fortunate enough to visit this important historical site last month. We were there one day before the burial of Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens. He’s just one of many Supreme Court Justices buried at Arlington, including Warren E. Burger, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., Thurgood Marshall, and William Rehnquist. 

While we were at the cemetery, we visited the somber final resting places of President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, the simple grave sites of his brothers Senators Robert and Edward Kennedy, and the sacred Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. President Kennedy isn’t the only president interred at Arlington. President William Taft is also buried there.

Also buried at Arlington are at least three soldiers who were former schoolteachers: General of the Armies John J. Pershing; Commander of the Flying Tigers of World War II Claire Lee Chennault; and US Navy Rear Admiral Simon Newcomb. Christa McAulifee, the first Teacher in Space, is interred elsewhere, but two of the astronauts who perished with her during the 1986 Challenger disaster are.

If you or your students are unable to travel to the Washington, DC, area in person, you can still explore Arlington National Cemetery through their website. Simply click on this link: Arlington Cemetery.