MACON, Ga. — 20 students from Bruce Elementary School got to spread their eagle wings and fly.
They just got back from a 3-day field trip to the nation's capital, and it was a trip for the history books.
Now, they're back home to recap on their adventures.
Students and chaperones boarded the plane with excitement, ready to take on the day.
From Macon to Washington D.C., these kids visited places where history was made like the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, and even The White House!
They even shook hands with former Vice President Mike Pence.
Kizzie Lott is the principal of Bruce Elementary School and says the trip was rewarding beyond words.
"Making these memories with our students was amazing," Lott said. "A lot of them boarded the plane for the first time, they were able to see things that they may see in books or on TV or on the internet come to life in the form of visiting the monuments and the different museums that they were able to visit and learn from that."
Fifth graders Quayann Brown, Kamarlie Rhodes, and Tykeria Orr said they worked hard on their ELA and math tests so they could put their names in to go on the trip.
After experiencing a blast from the past, Quayann said she got to know more about the history of the United States.
"I enjoyed this experience because I learned a lot," Brown said. "We saw monuments, we saw the former vice president, and we went to the old cemetery and saw the switching of the guards."
Sponsoring these kids is 100 Black Men of Macon-Middle Georgia.
They adopted Bruce Elementary School under their wings for over 2 years.
They've led a series of outreach efforts there including bike giveaways, mentor programs, reading support, leadership and etiquette lessons, and more.
Keith Moffett is the Vice President of the chapter, and says the kids were rewarded for helping close the achievement gap.
"It sets the foundation for what they want to do," Moffett said. "Some of these trips are magical, they change the kid's lives and they get to go and see history in real life. They toured all the museums, all the sights, they even got to meet former Vice President Mike Pence at the capitol so I'm sure that this is just life-changing for them and we just hope that it was a great learning opportunity. And again they were rewarded for all the reading, attendance, behavior, all the greatness that they did during this school year."
Bruce Elementary also got to take their kindergarteners and first graders to Wild Animal Safari and they took their 2nd and 3rd graders to Wild Adventures.