After being confined to the classroom during the winter months, Conroy renews his determination to expose the children to the outside world and prepare them for their eventual departure from Yamacraw.  He gets a sponsor and organizes a trip to Washington D.C., overcoming the fear and opposition of parents and going over the head of the principal straight to the superintendant of schools to get permission for the trip.  After weeks of preparation with the class, the trip goes well, even though the children are perhaps more impressed with the kind people they meet and the suburban neighborhoods they visit than the sights and landmarks they see.  On the way home, Conroy is astonished to discover that some of his students have never seen a two-lane highway with dotted lines separating vehicles going in opposite directions before, and realizes that the value of an experience cannot always be measured in a traditional way.