Grade V Tours Downtown Manhattan

On Tuesday, May 27, Mr. Demeny took the fifth grade on a tour of downtown Manhattan, an area containing some of the oldest and newest parts of the city.  Stops included the Trinity Church, Wall Street’s Charging Bull bronze sculpture by Arturo Di Modica, Battery Park, and a ride on the Stanten Island Ferry.

For the first time Mr. Demeny accompanied the boys to the 9/11 Memorial which only opened to the public in May 2014 after being cordoned off with gates since 2001.  The boys respectfully explored the site and learned about the symbolism of its thoughtful construction.  They huddled under the Survivor Tree and discussed how it is a symbol of hope and perseverance.

Following tradition, the boys recited the poem The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus with the Statue of Liberty in their sights.  In addition to Lady Liberty, some other characters in Mr. Demeny’s were of Alexander Hamilton, the United States’ first Secretary of the Treasury, who was mortally shot by Arron Burr in a duel; the Frenchman Philippe Petit, who in 1974 walked between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center on a tightrope; and Batman whose Gotham City home was discussed as the boys walked through the narrow streets of the old, lower Manhattan.