On November 4, SL students in AP World, Gifted Seminar, and Arabic classes attended a day long field trip to the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archeology and Anthropology, or UPENN museum.

“The objective was to allow the students to have some interaction with or some information about different cultures throughout the world that we may not be exposed to here at Southern Lehigh,” AP World teacher Mr. Lee Zeisloft said.

Upon arrival, students were able to have about forty-five minutes to roam the museum and explore the exhibits themselves. At 11:00, the students split into two groups to go onto a guided tour through the Egyptian exhibit.

“We want to increase the knowledge and show the beautiful artifacts,”  University of Pennsylvania museum tour guide Robert Burger said. “I hope that people appreciate how old these things are.”

The hour long tour provided in-depth information on Egypt. Students were also able to see artifacts ranging from mummies to models of brain removal hooks.

“My favorite part was seeing Alex Curtis be grossed out by the brain removal from the dead bodies of Egyptians before they were exposed to the mummy process to preserve their bodies,” Mr. Zeisloft said.

Mrs. Hanan Gawdet, a past SL Arabic teacher, inspired Superintendent Mrs. Leah Christman to organize this trip. A grant was even given to allow Mrs. Gawdet to return to SLHS in order to catch up with past students, teach classes on Egyptian culture, and also attend the UPENN trip.

“I thought it was fun, interesting if nothing else. It was definitely better than school,” freshman Jacob Chenmitz said.

Some of the dislikes of the field trip was the guided tour, the lack of time, and the lengthy transportation. Students enjoyed, of course, the food trucks they ate at for lunch, as well as the opportunity to learn away from the typical school atmosphere.

 “[The field trip] was certainly very educational,” junior Grace Bothelo said, ”I feel like I understand more about the stuff we were learning in AP world.”