Level 8 recently returned from their six-day tour of Washington D.C. and Philadelphia. On the way to Senator Mark Udall's office on Capitol Hill, police officers stopped the class as the Haitian President, Rene Preval, drove by in a five-car motorcade. After weeks of seeing images of Haiti in the news, Turning Point students got to see the machinations of politics and power first hand. Level 8 students enjoyed a special exhibit at the Smithsonian's Museum of American History on the currency and coinage of the United States titled "Stories on Money". Other trip highlights in Philadelphia included visits to Independence Hall and the National Constitution Center's special exhibit on Ancient Rome & America. For the nighttime tour of Colonial Williamsburg, Turing Point students took turns holding the lantern as they visited a bookbinder and a wigmaker. Recent class projects on Mount Vernon and Monticello also helped students recognize architectural features in both homes. Although exhilarated from the social opportunities after this six-day trip to the East Coast, students returned to California with a special appreciation of American history.