Day 5: The rich history of Washington, DC

Thursday morning started with an early breakfast so Nancy could get us on the road and headed towards Washington to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Once on the bus, we all enjoyed some quiet time to catch a few zzzz’s for the first hour or so to help prepare us for the busy schedule we have over the next few days. Throughout the morning we had the opportunity to meet with our Issues Analysis Project teams to discuss progress on our projects, identify key action items that need to be completed in the coming months, and ensure we are all on track to complete the projects on time.

Throughout the remainder of the 8-hour drive from Albany, NY, to Washington, DC, we had the opportunity to practice our public speaking skills through some off-the-cuff exercises. Topics ranged from the product/organizational branding we have seen thus far on our trip, to comparisons between Ontario’s AALP program and New York’s LEAD program, to what we have learned from AALP through our 10+ months so far in the program.

After lunch the class crowded to the front of the bus for a great interactive discussion about our 2018 Dream Auction! We brain-stormed possible themes, ideas for decorations and food, live music options and other possibilities for change, improvement and overall success of our 2018 Dream Auction.

Following our lively discussion of the Dream Auction, we took a little time to reflect on the previous day’s excursions and to prepare ourselves for the upcoming stop at the Holocaust Museum.

We arrived at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum around 3:30, leaving us with just under 2 hours to experience this amazing museum. From the moment we walked in, you could feel the significance of what had happened approximately 75-80 years ago. We were each given an ID card as we entered the Museum, which told the story of a real person who lived during the Holocaust. The tour started with photos of the day the camps were liberated and what the conditions were like. From there, it went back to the very beginning and told the story of how it all began in 1933 when Hitler was first elected as Chancellor. With only 2 hours, we did not have the opportunity to see the entire Museum in detail, however what we were able to see moved us all.

After finishing our tour of the Holocaust Museum, we headed for dinner and to meet our tour guide, Kenny, for our Evening Tour of Washington, DC. Kenny was full of “fun facts” throughout our tour, such as Washington being the 2nd-Rudest City when it comes to drivers, and that the White House has 20 black Canadian squirrels living on the grounds.

Our tour started at the Capitol Building, where the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives are housed. Another “fun fact” we learned from Kenny is that the flags on either wing of the building signify whether the Senate or the House are in session -- if the flags are flying the House of Representatives and the Senate are in session.

Next we headed to the White House. We had the opportunity to see a small, yet rapidly growing crowd of protestors gathering across the street from the White House. From the White House we travelled down the street a few buildings to the Blair House, which serves as the President's guest house. We then hopped back on the bus to head over to the Jefferson Memorial, followed by the Franklin D Roosevelt Memorial which sits on 7.4 acres of land, making it the largest memorial in the United States. We then walked to the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial and the Stone of Hope monument. From there we travelled to the Korean Veterans Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial Wall.

This was an amazing day, packed full with many hours both on the bus and on foot, learning about the rich history that is Washington, DC.

We are looking forward to continuing our exploration of Washington, DC, tomorrow!

-Class16

Comment

You need to be a member of Ontario Agriculture to add comments!

Join Ontario Agriculture

Welcome to
Ontario Agriculture

Sign Up
or Sign In

Agriculture Headlines from Farms.com Canada East News - click on title for full story

Above Average Yields for Saskatchewan

Crops were above average this year in Saskatchewan, with yields topping the 10-year provincial average and beating the Statistics Canada model-based estimates released in September. The province released its latest yield estimates in its final crop report for the 2025 growing season on Thursday. The average oat and barley yields were pegged by the province at 94.4 and 70 bu/acre, respectively, compared to the StatsCan estimates of 90.2 and 67.9 bu/acre. The province pegged the average Hard Spring wheat yield at 51.5 bu/acre, and other spring wheat at 55.5 bu/acre, versus StatsCan’s single spring wheat estimate of 49.2 bu. The average provincial durum yield of 39.4 bu/acre was 2.5 bu above the StatsCan estimate. At 42.4 bu/acre, the average Saskatchewan canola yield was 1.8 bu higher than StatsCan, while soybeans were a hefty 14.8 bu above at 39.6 bu. The average flax yield was pegged at 26.6 bu/acre, above StatsCan’s 23.1 bu. Peas were reported by the province at 40.8 bu/acre,

Breaking the silence: Understanding stigma in farming and mental health

The narrative in agriculture is evolving. Caring for the land, animals, and equipment has always come first; now farmer well-being belongs on that list. For centuries, the culture in agriculture has valued resilience, self-reliance, and hard work. These are important qualities that have built our farms and fed our world. Yet these same values have, unintentionally, helped create one of the biggest barriers to farmer mental health: stigma. Stigma shows up as silence, hesitation, fear and shame, making farmers feel they must carry their struggles alone rather than reach out for support. Decades in the making The roots of those feelings – fear and shame towards mental health in agriculture stretch back decades, woven into the history of rural life. Farmers have been expected to endure hardship quietly, whether it was a drought, market crash, or a barn fire. Generations grew up hearing phrases like “tough it out” or “pull yourself up by your bootstraps.” Asking for help, especially for

Filiz Koksel, associate professor, University of Manitoba

Filiz Koksel is an associate professor in the Department of Food and Human Nutritional Sciences (FHNS) at the University of Manitoba (UM). She was appointed Manitoba Strategic Research Chair in Sustainable Protein in July this year. Born in Winnipeg while her father was completing graduate studies at UM, Koksel grew up in Turkey, where she earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in food engineering from Middle East Technical University in Ankara. She later returned to Winnipeg to complete her PhD in food science at UM and joined the Department of FHNS as a faculty member in 2017. She lives in Winnipeg with her husband and their five-year-old daughter. Tell us a bit about what you’re working on at UM. My research focuses on food processing, transforming ingredients, both plant- and animal-based, into nutritious, appealing foods. These processes range from mixing or milling for bakery applications, to extrusion cooking, which is a process used for making puffed snacks like Cheeto

Canadian Beef Producers Request Termination of the Canada-UK Continuity Agreement

The Canadian Cattle Association (CCA) calls for the Government of Canada to initiate the termination of the Canada-UK Continuity Agreement, following the tabling of the UK Accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) legislation. In July 2023, the Government of Canada announced the accession of the UK to the CPTPP agreement. CCA, our provincial members, and beef producers across the country urged Canada to “say no to a bad deal”. Since then, the UK has not made any effort to address the non-tariff barriers that are keeping Canadian beef out of the UK market. At the same time, UK beef imports into the Canadian market have increased from $16.6 million in 2023 to $42.5 million in 2024. “We are calling on all Parliamentarians to stand up for Canadian beef producers,” said Tyler Fulton, President of CCA. “In these uncertain geopolitical times, we need every opportunity to diversify our markets.” Given the Government’s recent tabling of th

Jaclyn Prystupa powers precision automation at GIFS at USask

Jaclyn Prystupa is an Automation Specialist at the Global Institute for Food Security (GIFS) at the University of Saskatchewan (USask). It’s a dynamic role in which she leads the development, optimization, and troubleshooting of automated workflows and laboratory equipment within GIFS’ Omics and Precision Analytics Laboratory (OPAL). Put more simply, she works with robots to expand the capabilities and throughput of GIFS’ genomics offerings. Every day, she programs, operates, and maintains a growing number of automated liquid handlers, each one capable of executing complex laboratory tasks with speed and precision. This work is central to OPAL — a PacBio Certified Service Provider and one of Canada’s largest sequencing and genotyping facilities. There, Prystupa combines genomics and computer science to accomplish big things in small timeframes. How big is big? Think thousands of plant, animal, and microbial samples. By leveraging automation, these samples are efficiently prepared,

More…

Badges | Report an Issue | Terms of Service