Field Trip!!

We started our field trip on the steps of the Van Buren County Courthouse.

Mr. Hardester taught us lots of interesting facts about the courthouse!

Then we went inside where Judge Dufon taught us about the three branches of government and our responsibilities as citizens.  We got to practice being part of a town council making laws, police officers enforcing the laws and the jury who would hear our case!

Mrs. Koehn got arrested by Officer Hiler. 

Thankfully Mrs. Koehn had a great attorney (Mrs. Lindsay) who did a great job pleading her case!

The jury found Mrs. Koehn innocent (although she really was guilty!)

What an amazing experience!

Thank you to everyone at the courthouse for all their time and hard work to teach us about our legal system!

After the courthouse, we went to the Paw Paw Police Station. 

Officer Sam showed us all around the station, including the interrogation room!

 We saw what they do with evidence they find at a crime scene and we learned why it is so important to keep it sealed and labeled!

Officer Sam is also the Fire Chief for the Paw Paw Volunteer Fire Department!

He showed us around the fire station as well, including all the old pictures and awards our community helpers have earned over the years!

We even got to see the fire trucks!

A huge thank you to everyone, including our chaperones for making this such a wonderful learning experience! We live in a great community and we now know some ways we can be great citizens!