Franklin here, Franklin there, Franklin everywhere!
Today was Ben Franklin day, and being in the city of brotherly love couldn’t be a better place to honor such an amazing man. As the morning began and we were all trudging into town, I was not sure what to expect of the upcoming day’s adventure. As we got off the subway and began our walk to the Franklin Institute, the first thing I noticed was how beautiful the city was. It must be living in Pueblo, without a skyscraper in sight, that makes me awed with the Philadelphia skyline. What a great part of town to have the museum. As we waited for the tour to begin, we were fortunate enough to be in the foyer with the Ben Franklin statue. This reminded me of the Lincoln Memorial, but of Franklin instead. He is just as deserving. The museum itself is wonderful, and it is a place I would love to bring my students (think the grant could cover that). I’m so jealous of all the teachers here, having access to such wonderful buildings, and I love the fact that we are seeing so many students at the places we visit- that means teachers are actually taking advantage of what they have! After a brief tour around the museum, we were taken behind the scenes- what could have possibly been in store for us? As we headed into the boardroom I was a bit puzzled because I actually expected a lecture. Boy was I wrong, instead we got what every teacher LOVES- the chance to actually touch real artifacts that belonged to Ben Franklin WOW!! That was pretty awesome, including the fact we got to wear the cool white gloves. That was one of my favorite parts of the day, to me you can hear all about history and read all about it, but nothing beats actually getting to hold history in your hand. I know this is something I could never use in my classroom- what crazy museum curator would allow middle school fingers to touch these artifacts? But, copies or pictures of them are just as beneficial. I think it is important for students to see and touch “stuff”, not just read about it.
After an extremely filling lunch, some of us decided to walk around Phily and head toward the Masonic Temple, what we heard was the best kept secret in Philadelphia. On the way we stopped inside the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul. When I walk through the doors of some of these churches it just takes my breath away. I thought the church in Princeton was phenomenal, and this one was right up there with it, a must-see if you can. Then we walked through City Hall which I loved because I must have taken a zillion pictures of it on the outside from every angle- it is just overwhelming how big it is! Then we finally headed back to the Temple for our scheduled tour. I must admit, before it started I really did not know much about the Masons, but our tour guide (with a lot of prompting questions from the group) enlightened me more then I could have ever expected. This is one of the best kept secrets- the inside of the building is beautiful, and it is hard to imagine that some of the most famous men of our country (Washington, Franklin) were Masons here. Truly an amazing building.
Another awesome day spent in this great city- every day seems to top the previous one!
