Mr. Ditomasso has been teaching at Lindenhurst High School for 17 years and has been the advisor of the History Club since he started working at Lindenhurst High School. Ditomasso shares the responsibility of running the club with Mr. Finder, the social studies coordinator. They wanted to share their love of history and world events with the students of our school and therefore created the History Club. In this club, they do two overnight trips a year to help educate students about events in history.

This past trip was to Philadelphia where all of the students learned about the American Revolution and the start of our country. Despite this, the students’ first stop was the Eastern State Penitentiary. While here everyone got to experience what it was like to reside there while it was open, which was from 1829 all the way until 1971. They were taken on an audio guided tour around the penitentiary and even got to hear the experiences that people had while serving their time. Students even got to learn how many people got away with crimes over the years and how dangerous it is to commit a crime. The cherry on top of the penitentiary visit was Al Capone’s very own cell! It was still kept exactly the way it was when he occupied it; same furniture and everything.

The students left the penitentiary with a huge appetite after all the walking they did, so they took a quick stop at Jimmy’s Philly Cheesesteaks to get the whole Philadelphia experience. Later that night, they traveled through the city and right to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Of course the students took the renowned “Rocky Steps” up to the museum. The exhibits were beautiful and really showcased the artistry of people from all around the world. There was a Japanese exhibit which had Buddha statues on display and even a Japanese tea garden. There was also a religious exhibit on paintings and sculptures dedicated to Christianity. The variety of artistic items the museum had to offer was perfect as it had something for everyone. “The Japanese tea garden was definitely my favorite part of the whole museum because it was extremely peaceful and I sat in there and felt very serene,” said a freshman on the trip, Miranda Campion.

On Saturday, the second day of the Philly trip, the students went to the American Revolution Museum after leaving the hotel and eating breakfast. There, the students were split into groups led by tour guides and were taken through as the museum pointed out key points, events, people, and primary sources from the Revolutionary War.  A key part from the tour was the segment on Washington’s tent in which they showed a video, and after, revealed the real tent that they had. Following that, students went to see the Liberty Bell. It was in a small building open to the public and was easy to see and photograph.  Afterwards, the trip proceeded to its last stop: the Wells Fargo Center for the Philadelphia Flyers NHL game. The hockey game started at around 1:00pm and lasted until about until 3:30pm. We left five minutes before the third period ended, and at that time, the Flyers won against Canada’s WInnipeg Jets team.
Compared to the last trip in November, this one ended rather quickly as travelers were home by 6:00 pm. This trip is certainly an example of how worthwhile travel trips can be for students.  The experiences, sites, and memories could never take place over the course of just one day.  Everyone had a great time, and that enthusiasm made the trip even more worth it to go on.