On Tuesday, March 12, former South High teacher Neil Anderson took a group of students on a day trip to the nation’s capitol. The group, which was made up of mostly students from his Holocaust class, departed from the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport at 7 a.m. and returned at 11 p.m. the same night. The group took a tour of the Holocaust museum during the trip.

After the finishing the tour at the museum, which is an individual tour at each visitor’s pace, the group spends some time on the national mall.

“We usually… go over to the White House, to the World War II memorial,” said Anderson of the trip’s itinerary.

According to Anderson, the trip has been taking place for twenty years.

“It’s through the JCRC and Tolerance Minnesota,” he said, adding that he has a sponsor that pays for the trips. This sponsor pays for airline tickets, allowing students to go on the trip for low or no costs.

Although the group is mostly comprised of Holocaust class students, Anderson tries to include other students as well.

“I try to pick a couple of kids that have never been on a plane before and a couple that have never been to [Washington] DC,” Anderson noted.

And this year, the group got a special treat. While standing outside of the museum following their tour, many members of the group saw the President drive by.

“The Motorcade usually goes right past the museum to go to Andrews Air Force Base,” said Anderson.

Anderson maintained that this is an important trip for students to take.

“There’s been a lot of genocides in the world, and there’s been mistreatment of [America’s] Native American populations, but I think… one way to teach tolerance is to see how one group of people…treated the Jewish population – it’s a great lesson,” he said.