This year, St. Mary’s eighth graders experienced American history in Washington, D.C. firsthand.

The annual five-day trip has followed the same schedule for years, one crafted by Andrea Zimmerman, former eighth-grade civics teacher. It normally features historical monuments and museums, such as the Abraham Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument.

But on Oct. 1, 2025, the federal government went into the biggest shutdown in U.S. history. This was caused by the Republican and Democratic parties having a disagreement on a bill that, if passed, would fund governmental services such as health care. As a result, the federal budget expired, and federal workers did not receive pay.

Because many of the museums in D.C. are federally funded, they had to be temporarily closed. The Smithsonian museums, including the National Museum of African American History and Culture and the National Portrait Gallery, which are classic highlights of the D.C. trip, were closed.

The teachers chaperoning the trip had to navigate a last-minute altered itinerary that excluded these regular stops.

This year was eighth-grade civics teacher Ben Graunke’s first time as an organizer of the D.C. trip, and he had to decide which schedule to use for the trip.

“The original plan for Washington, D.C. was the same itinerary that Ms. Zimmerman had for many years,” Graunke said. “Fortunately for us, Mrs. [Huikai] Karol has done an amazing job of having a backup, shutdown-friendly itinerary.”

Ms. Karol found the modified itinerary less stressful and less restricted.

“Compared to trips from previous years, [the altered itinerary] felt more relaxed because we didn’t have as many places to be,” Karol said. “In a way it was kind of nice… [it] made the whole trip kind of more relaxed because we had a little bit more free time.”

So, what did the eighth graders do in DC?

As usual, the trip included seeing the iconic “Sheer Madness” play at the Kennedy Center, walking around the D.C. Mall and going to a shopping center.

But this year, the back-up itinerary left space for other attractions that the D.C. trip normally does not include. The eighth grade ended up seeing the U.S. Marine Corps Memorial’s flag- raising ceremony, went down to the wharf and visited the Spy Museum.

There was also more downtime than in previous years.

Meredith Muscari, an eighth grader on the DC trip, said she found herself bored at times.

“[There was] so much chill time that we had an hour before dinner every day,” she said. “We didn’t have anything else to do.”

Eighth grader Jeannie Xu noted that the trip also included a lot more exercise, with a large amount of the time allotted towards sightseeing on foot.

“We would go walking a lot. We wouldn’t usually use the bus, so we would just walk around,” she said. “Walking around was nice since the weather wasn’t that cold… The only thing I didn’t like was that my feet hurt at the end of the day.”

Xu enjoyed the trip, but also thought it would have been better without the shutdown.

“I got to experience many memorials and visit a lot of places, but we didn’t get to visit any of the Smithsonian museums because the shutdown was happening at the time,” she said. “We went to the Holocaust Museum because it was the only one open from private donations. It would have been a lot more fun if we were able to see all the museums.”

But the open itinerary left room for fun, spontaneous activities.

“We played flag football in front of the Capitol, too,” Muscari said. “That [flag football] was the highlight [of the trip].”

For Muscari, the trip was memorable despite the shutdown. 

“It affected our experience, but not how much fun we had,” Muscari said.