Educators are well aware that travel is one of the most meaningful experiential learning opportunities available for both themselves and for their students. And Winter Break is a great time for travel. Earlier this month, my husband Hal and I traveled to New York City, where we visited the Statue of Liberty. We spent several hours there, wandering among the exhibits and taking in the views. An exploration of this place offers an excellent opportunity to incorporate a history lesson about this important place into the classroom curriculum.

Author Terry Lee Marzell and her husband, Hal, visited the Statue of Liberty in December, 2024. The visit prompts ideas about how to share this experience with students. Photo credit: Hal Marzell

“The Statue of Liberty Enlightening the World” was a gift of friendship from the people of France to the United States. The statue was dedicated on October 28, 1886. Since then, the statue has become a universal symbol of freedom and democracy throughout the world. Liberty Enlightening the World was designated a National Monument in 1924, and has been operated under the auspices of the National Park Service since 1933.

Hal and I took the Statue City Cruise (the official ferry, and the only one that lands on the islands) from the Battery to Liberty Island. There we self-toured the pedestal area, a full ten stories up. The views from up there, at the feet of Lady Liberty, are amazing. We were unable to climb to the crown because tickets for that part of the statue sell out four months in advance. Keep that in mind if you plan to escort your students there. After touring the pedestal, we entered the museum and learned all about the creation of the monument.

After touring Liberty Island, we re-boarded the ferry, which carried us to Ellis Island. Ellis Island was once the busiest immigrant inspection and processing station in the country. During the years from 1892 to 1954, nearly 12 million immigrants arrived on American shores and were admitted to the country there. Ellis Island became part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument in 1965. I was surprised to find a research center providing information about immigrants who were processed at this processing station. We were thrilled to find information about Hal’s maternal grandfather that we hadn’t known before! We also viewed displays of fascinating artifacts brought into the country by various groups of immigrants, and some displays of the costumes they wore in their native countries.

All in all, our visit to the Statue of Liberty spanned an entire day, for it was well after dark by the time we returned to the Battery. But we were well-satisfied with our visit there. If you are not able to visit the site in person with your students, you can direct them to the resources available at the Statue of Liberty website. You could also share this very nice virtual tour and explanatory video about the monument on YouTube:

Teachers know that travel is one of the most meaningful experiential learning opportunities available for both themselves and for their students. Winter Break is a great time for travel. Earlier this month, my husband Hal and I traveled to New York City, where we visited the National September 11 Memorial and Museum. We spent several hours there, wandering among the exhibits and reliving our own memories of that tragic day. But an exploration of this place also offers an excellent opportunity to incorporate a history lesson about this important event into the classroom curriculum.

The 9/11 Memorial honors the 2,977 people who perished in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 at the World Trade Center site, near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, and at the Pentagon, as well as the six people who were killed in the World Trade Center bombing on February 26, 1993. The exhibits include a variety of authentic artifacts, media, and personal narratives.

The photographs of 2,977 people who perished in the terrorist attacked of Sept. 11, 2oo1, are shown in an exhibit at the National 9/11 Memorial and Museum in New York City. Photo credit: Terry Lee Marzell

At the National Sept. 11 Memorial and Museum in New York City, author and retired educator Terry Lee Marzell examines the names of three Chalkboard Heroes who tragically lost their lives in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Photo credit: Hal Marzell

While we were there, I examined the exhibits for mention of the three teachers who perished in the crash of Flight 77, the plane that crashed into the Pentagon. The crash killed 125 souls on the ground and 64 souls on board the plane. Three of those individuals were Sarah Clark, Hilda E. Taylor, and James Debeuneure, teachers from Washington, DC. The three were selected by the National Geographic Society to escort a group of  elementary students on a field trip to Southern California. This field trip, known as the Sustainable Seas Expedition, gave underprivileged urban students the opportunity to  spend time at the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary, where they would work as junior marine biologists and study oceanic life. Tragically, the lives of all three exemplary educators and the students they were escorting were lost that day. I found the names of each teacher inside the museum in a display of the 9/11 victims, and also on the memorial outside.

If you are fortunate enough to be able to escort your students on a field trip to New York City, you will find the museum on the former site of the Twin Towers at 180 Greenwich Street. Otherwise, you and your students can explore the resources about the event provided at the museum website at National 9/11 Memorial and Museum. Teachers can also consult the website Facing History & Ourselves for additional resources.