The Service and Leadership Trip at GUS is a rite of passage for soon-to-be graduating eighth grade students. Over the years, locations have ranged from Guatemala and the Dominican Republic to the Navajo Nation, Appalachia, Florida, and, most recently, to the Eastern Shore of Maryland and Washington, D.C.

Last month, the Class of 2023 traveled south, where they visited the Eastern Shore of Maryland and Washington, D.C., and engaged in place-based and service-oriented activities. They were able to engage in real work, meet and ask questions of people working to bring about positive change, and have fun as they observed ways to tackle and combat issues that impact us all – from local environmental concerns to a national debt ceiling debate.

The goal of this trip is to learn about the meaning of service and leadership, and we hope all of the students came away inspired knowing that anyone, anywhere, can make a difference through actions both large and small. As one student explained at their All School Meeting presentation, “We learned so many different ways that people can and do serve their communities.” As their educational journeys grow beyond GUS, we hope this trip helps inspire our graduating class to imagine some specific ways they can make a difference in their communities going forward.

Eastern Shore, Maryland

The Eastern Shore of Maryland is an area that sits geographically and figuratively on the edge of the climate change crisis. For oyster farmers and fishermen in the Chesapeake Bay, the area has been suffering from coastal erosion and land loss, as well as biodiversity loss due to warming waters and ocean pollution. During their stay on the Eastern Shore, the Class of 2023 visited Horn Point Laboratories, part of the University of Maryland system, where scientists are working to cultivate resilient oyster farms as a means to filter the water, increase storm protection, and restore the original marine biodiversity prior to the overharvesting of oysters and marine life in the bay. “While at Horn Point, the 8th graders took part in a few oyster restoration-related projects,” shared Upper School Science Teacher Alex Levin. “One, which mimicked the tragedy of the commons, students were challenged to try to work together to preserve marine fisheries without overfishing. In a second project, students built almost four dozen 40-pound oyster bags, which are used to build the physical oyster reefs that Horn Point uses for their restoration projects.”

Cambridge, Maryland

Next, the class traveled to Cambridge, Maryland, where Harriet Tubman was born and enslaved. They visited the Harriet Tubman Museum and learned about her courageous life and how she risked her own safety and freedom to save other enslaved people. For many students, this was their first exposure to actual soil that was once harvested by enslaved people. Local activists and co-founders of Eastern Shore Network for Change, Dion Banks and Kisha Petticolas, led students on a tour of the town, including a walk along the road that enslaved people would have been marched down to be auctioned off at the town hall. They saw the small cabins that were slave quarters and the bandstand that was an auctioning block, and learned about the civil rights leader Gloria Richardson who served her community to demand equal rights for Black people in Cambridge. “This powerful experience gave students both a raw historical and contemporary perspective on race relations in a city that to this day continues to be visibly divided along racial lines,” shared  Brad Belin, director of upper school. “Dion and Kisha encouraged our students always to dig deeper and to not accept things as they may appear at surface level.”

Washington, D.C.

In Washington, D.C., they had the opportunity to experience the city’s rich culture, monuments, and museums. They toured the Capitol Building with two Capitol police officers who showed them the history of the building and how it works today. They got to sit in on a session in the House of Representatives and met with Senator Chris Murphy (CT). Senator Murphy shared why he continues to serve his country and encouraged students to get involved in the causes they believe in. “It was inspiring for students to see legislation being debated on the floor of the House that was later on the news chryons they saw displayed in the hotel lobby or restaurant. They heard the story of someone who started out, just after college, working in his community on local issues and how that small, local start began a path that ended in the Senate through a mix of dedication, belief in the work he was doing, and timing,” observed Upper School Humanities Teacher Margaret Monteith. Students also visited Arlington National Cemetery, the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the National Zoo, explored the Mall and the Smithsonian Museums, and even stopped by the White House for a quick picture. On their last full day, they started with a trip out to Annapolis to visit the US Naval Academy and ended the day touring the Jefferson, Lincoln, World War II, Vietnam, and Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorials.