Quality West Wing: The Best Field Trip Experience

As a kid, fieldtrips were the days everyone looked forward to all year long at my school. Don't you remember starting your first day as a third grader or fifth grader and thinking, "Now I get to go on the cool fieldtrip." Of course, everything the "older kids" did was always the "coolest" thing. And so your first day was always the day when our little minds went wild with all the newness of being a grade older.

I don't know about you but my all my fieldtrips were to the pumpkin patch, zoo or the marina. We didn't go to Disneyland or any other amusement park like other children I knew. Our fieldtrips were educational. Nowadays I hear about kids going to all sorts of places and it amazes me. The possibilities are endless it seems. There is a little place in Corona, CA that is designed just for fieldtrips. That's right. It's not open to the public. It's just for kids. Now that's not to say that if you happen to donate a generous sum of money you might not get a tour, but in general, it is exclusively for school-aged children. Elementary and junior high to be more specific. It is called Quality West Wing.

What is it you ask? It's a tour that involved educating children about the ins and outs of our government; how it was formed, how it works and what it all looks like. Bud Gordon, the owner of Quality Toyota, a prominent car dealership in the city, built this museum of sorts for children learning about American history and government when his own daughter was a child and he realized she didn't really understand what she was learning in school about the subject because it wasn't being presented in a fun, hands on manner.

Quality West Wing offers a four part tour. First the kids come in and watch a cartoon about the Constitution and how the founding fathers developed it's concepts. Then the students break up into smaller groups and move into one of three rooms. There's the hallway discussion where they discuss some of the most prominent presidents, talk about the construction of the white house and get an up close look at the House of Representatives, Senate and Supreme Court in session with detailed models that perfectly represent the current members according to race, gender and age. Students then go into a computer lab where they use a program that simulates a day in the president's shoes. They are sworn into office and must then sign bills, make speeches, and work with diplomatic leaders on solving today's problems. Later the kids go into a large room where the walls are covered in historical documentation, books are set out and other items to assist them in completing a questionnaire scavenger hunt. Finally, the best part of the tour. The Oval Office.

The Oval Office is a replica of the original room. It is over 95% to scale and was designed by the Hollywood set designer who worked on the film Dave. The details of the room are modeled after how the office looked while Ronald Reagan was in office. However, there are photos of George W. Bush and his family. As the students come in they gather around the desk and a photo is taken. An image of President Bush sitting at the desk signing a document is digitally added in later and the students each receive a copy of the photo to take home.

It's an amazing experience. Educational, fun and entirely out of the ordinary.