On Thursday, Nov. 30, many Tuscarora Rho Kappa students went to a Titanic exhibition in National Harbor, MD by MUSEALIA. Rho Kappa, the National Social Studies Honors Society, has gone on excursions like this in the past. Last year, they went on a trip to the King Tut Exhibit by Smithsonian. Joelle Aheto, a co-president of the club who went on the King Tut trip, says, “I thought that the King Tut Experience was a fun and educational time! I really enjoyed my time and I liked connecting with my peers and history.” On the other hand, Aheto enjoyed the Titanic field trip for its relevance. This past year, there have been expeditions to the Titanic such as the tragedy in June that killed five. There has also been new developments including the creation of a full size digital scan of the Titanic by Magellan Ltd., according to NPR.
The Titanic Exhibition walked through the devastating story of the infamous shipwreck from beginning to end. The word Titanic means great strength, size, or power, and the exhibition explains why the large vessel was the disaster that it turned out to be despite the dominating name. The story of the ship was told with recreations of rooms, an ice wall to simulate the experience of coming into contact with the extreme cold, a collection of artifacts, and stations that highlighted the lives of some of the unfortunate guests of the Titanic. The entire exhibition was narrated through individual headpieces, but students who were in the same group were able to listen to the story unfold together. They learned that the Titanic had an identical ship, the Olympia, and that people slated to ride on other ships had been transferred to the doomed Titanic because of coal strikes.
After the experience was over, students had approximately two hours to walk around National Harbor to get lunch and explore the area. Many students and chaperones split up to explore different parts of National Harbor that they were interested in. The most visited spot was IT’S SUGAR, a vibrant candy store that was in the Waterfront. For lunch, the juniors had started off together but then split up into smaller groups to grab food from Chipotle, BurgerFi, and Mezeh, a Mediterranean restaurant. After that, they walked around and enjoyed being close to the water and away from school. The seniors went to an Italian restaurant all together before splitting up. Sydney Nicklas, a staff writer for Tuscarora’s newspaper and a member of Rho Kappa, made a vlog of the experience. It is located on the The Pack’s Instagram.
The field trip was a success, and a poll that was conducted showed that 100% of the students who responded enjoyed the field trip. “I really enjoyed this year’s Rho Kappa field trip because I liked that we had more people join us and I liked the freedom that we were able to experience!” Aheto supplies.
Rho Kappa will have another field trip in the 2023-2024 school year. The club accepts juniors and seniors with a passion for history. While this year’s applications are over, students who are interested in joining the club can do so next year if they are in the respective grade levels.
