DC at Night

Our last great Washington DC activity was a tour of the DC Buildings and Monuments at night. It was spectacular! We were particularly moved by the Martin Luther King Memorial as none of us had ever seen it. It was interesting to know that it was intentionally unfinished, just like the work of MLK. It was the perfect way to end our extraordinary time in Washington!

The Newseum

On Saturday, after the end of our conference and important meetings, we were ready to be tourists for a day in our nation's capital. We decided that we would spend the day at the Newseum, the fantastic museum in Washington DC dedicated to journalism and to the history of news stories. Ms. Smith, our journalism teacher, was with us so it was especially helpful and interesting to hear from her.

 

We spent the whole day at the Newseum and still didn't see it all. It was fascinating, emotional and somewhat overwhelming, especially for our students who had never seen many of the famous newsreels and photographs of past decades. A few highlights are in the photos below:

 

There were two JFK themed exhibits at the Newseum

A beautiful photo from a horrible day

Walter Cronkite's typewriter & stopwatch

Barbara Walters - the early days (not easy days)

Ms. Smith with Helen Thomas' red dress

The antenna from Tower 1 of the World Trade Center

The Royal wedding that our students never experienced

The Headline after the March on Washington

Part of The Berlin Wall

We needed a moment of humor after so much serious news!

 

 



Post Conference Learning in DC

After the close of our wonderful conference, we had to rush off to a couple more important appointments. First, thanks to the Araiza family, we were welcomed at the Embassy of Mexico. The purpose of our visit there was to tour the embassy and to learn about NAFTA (the North American Free Trade Agreement). Our favorite part of the tour was the art work, all uniquely Mexican. It was also extremely interesting to hear about NAFTA and about huge the trade is between the US and Mexico and how most of the trade happens through Texas.

Our second stop was the United nations Foundation building where we had an appointment with Girl Up. Girl Up is an innovative campaign of the United Nations Foundation. Girl Up gives American girls the opportunity to channel their energy and compassion to raise awareness and funds for United Nations programs that help some of the world’s hardest-to-reach adolescent girls. We at UA are very excited that Girl Up is coming to our school on Global Celebration Day!

Meeting Mrs. Bush

Friday was the last day of the World Affairs Councils annual conference. It began with a very animated panel on the future of the Middle East. We were all excited about the day because of the many great speakers but especially because of the promise of a special appearance by former First Lady, Mrs. Laura Bush. That morning, Dr. Lori Murray, President Emeritus of the World Affairs organization, asked to speak to our students. Much to their surprise and excitement, Dr. Murray informed them that they were going to be sitting at Mrs. Bush's table. Needless to say, the students were thrilled and honored by this news! 

 

The super animated panel on the Middle East

Mrs. Bush arrived at lunchtime and sat with our students. Mrs. Bush was very kind and mentioned that she was happy to meet the Ursuline students and that she drives by our school almost every day. Soon, Mrs. Bush was introduced and began her short but powerful speech about the continued struggles of women in Afghanistan. In fact, Mrs. Bush was in Washington to join Secretary of State John Kerry and former Secretary Hillary Clinton at a symposium titled "Advancing Afghan Women: Promoting Peace and Progress in Afghanistan."

Meeting Mrs. Bush - wow!

Learning about women in Afghanistan from Mrs. Bush

 

 



Further discussion of the challenges and opportunities in Afghanistan

 

All too soon, the conference came to an end. It was an intense but fascinating conference and we were sorry to see it end. We could not be more grateful for the way our group was so warmly received, encouraged and embraced by the World Affairs Councils organization and the members - Thank you!! We are already looking forward to next year!

 



UA Students were applauded at the end of the conference and were called "wicked smart!"

 

With President Bill Clifford

With President Emeritus Dr. Lori Murray

National World Affairs Councils Conference, Washington DC

Greetings from Washington DC where 5 of our UA Juniors are attending the  National World Affairs Councils of America annual conference. The conference brings together journalists, authors, politicians, government officials, ambassadors and other notable speakers to reflect on pressing global and national issues. The theme of the conference this year is The Top 6 National Security Issues for 2014: 

• Cybersecurity
• U.S. Energy Independence
• Global Economic Realignment
• Middle East
• Global Environment Issues
• K-12 Education 

After a full day of informative conference sessions, our students and teachers were invited to a very special reception at the beautiful Embassy of Canada. We were honored to meet the Ambassador of Canada (Thank you to Mr. Falk for this introduction!) and later we were completely stunned by the gorgeous view of the Capitol from the Embassy Terrace. It was an amazing day and the conference continues tomorrow!

Good Morning! We are ready for a great day!

Former Director of Homeland Security, Michael Chertoff, was the first speaker of the day

Posing with Astronaut Leland Melvin and Naval Officers - so many awesome uniforms!

Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer

With our host, Ambassador Gary Doer of Canada

The beautiful view from the Canadian Embassy

Striking a pose in front of the Canadian Embassy

Our last great day together with our Wimbledon sisters

Today was All Saints Day and it was also the last day that we shared with our Wimbledon sisters. Appropriately, the day began with Mass and reminded us of the Catholic, Ursuline heritage that we all share. It was nice to have Mass together and even nicer that our Wimbledon sisters were able to participate in a very active way (see photos below). After Mass, our UA Dallas host sisters joined their Wimbledon counterparts in one last cupcake while we exchanged gifts for our schools; UA Dallas gave Ursuline High School a UA Dallas Christmas Ornament and Ursuline High School gave us a beautiful drawing of their new art center. We will place that lovely gift  in a special place where we will be constantly reminded of the loving relationship that we share with our dear friends "across the pond." We miss you already!