Engage students in curiosity while connecting to western heritage unit in history, at the Gene Autry Museum- Great Wall of LA field trip for 8th graders.  

Student will leave IVA at 8:15 am.  Students will then arrive at The Great Wall of LA at 9:50 am. At 11:15 am they will then go to the Autry Museum. They will return from the Autry back to Long Beach at 3:20 pm.

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a note from your teacher

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Hello 8th Grade Families!

On Friday, May 20th our history class will be visiting two locations. The first is the Great Wall of Los Angeles. As one of the longest murals in the world, the Great Wall of LA is an important cultural representation of Chicano history in Los Angeles. It is at this mural that students will be guided by a professor from UCLA and asked to reflect and connect with the illustrations that depict the rich history of Mexican-American culture in California. The mural is located in the Tujunga Flood Control Channel on Coldwater Canyon Avenue in the community of Valley Glen. More information can be found at http://sparcinla.org/programs/the-great-wall-mural-los-angeles/.

The second part of our trip will take place at the Autry Museum of Western Heritage. Here students will take both independent and guided tours of the museum, culminating in a seminar lead by museum docents on the topics of “Westward Expansion: Conflict and Cooperation in the American West” and “What is the West?” (a dialogue on cultural Identity).

Students are asked to bring a sack lunch to eat at the Museum before we enter.

It is my hope that through these two encounters, students will be able to fully appreciate the complexity of our history and cultural relationships in the shared space of the American West. Students will be further encouraged to ask meaningful questions and seek out answers on how our past interactions shape present day issues in our Los Angeles-based community.

Permission Slips for this trip are due by May 12 and can be found on the Parent Portal of Illuminate.

Please let me know if you have any other questions!

- Mr. Fountain