When I went to the website for New York's branch of the Federal Reserve today, I was hoping to find a giant flashing icon on the home page, "Would you all PLEASE calm down?  We've GOT THIS."  It wasn't there, although I suppose I should be equally comforted by the fact that the website still exists.  Apparently the backbone of our economy is still standing after all.

I love this panoramic photo by epicharmus on Flickr.  It illustrates some of the excitement of New York City and its various attractions that make it so perfect for student travel like senior class trips.  Plus, considering the attraction in focus, it's a reminder that New York City is also perfect for educational tours.

I wrote about educational travel in an article on Hub Pages, and in it I emphasized the different areas of education that can really be boosted by travel.  One of them is economy.  Right now perhaps more than ever we are surely burdened by the responsibility to teach our children the importance of a balanced economy.  Field trips to places like the Federal Reserve are one way to kick-start a child's interest in dollars and cents.  It's almost as effective as their very own piggy (or Disney or Barbie or Abe Lincoln . . .) bank and the responsibility to purchase certain items from it.

The New York branch is an especially exciting branch of the Federal Reserve, because in it students can witness the larges accumulation of gold in the world.  After all this negative economy talk, that's sure to lift anyone's spirits, right?

New York City is an obvious choice for student travel.  And if you choose it, don't neglect its many educational opportunities.  They literally abound in this amazing city.

Apparently this is what it will look like - the building that will stand where the Twin Towers once stood.  They call it Freedom Tower, and according to the website dedicated to it, it is scheduled to be completed in 2012.  (Photo by gniliep on Flickr)

Right now the site where the towers stood until the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001, is largely a construction zone and one of the most visited locations in the city by tourists.  A friend who went there told me it is unbelievable and that your heart feels as though it's fallen into the giant footprint left by the destruction.

There are memorials all around New York City dedicated to that day, to its victims and its heroes, many of them very near the World Trade Center site.  These along with the construction are an amazing balance between our need to remember and memorialize and the spirit that keeps us moving forward.

New York City is enormously popular for student tours.  The city is full of excitement and inspiration.  It produces all kinds of fresh, modern entertainment plus classic musical performances and Broadway shows.  So many things come alive around every corner in every unique neighborhood in this famous metropolis.

The World Trade Center site is a place to stop and reflect.  We aren't invincible, it reminds us.  But we get up when we fall.

You recognize this guy, right?  Photographed here by David Paul Ohmer on Flickr, this is the charging bull sculpture located a couple blocks from the New York stock exchange and meant to symbolize the strength and power of the American people.  The media often still uses it today to reflect optimism in the stock market.  So, you probably haven't seen a lot of it lately.  That is, unless you got a glimpse of it the day people were praying to it for a positive change in the economy.

The bull was the sole idea of its sculptor and was originally placed on Wall Street without anyone's permission.  It was sculpted and placed there after the stock market crash of 1987.  Apparently the police impounded it, but the people cried out for its return.  I like this story.  I like when artists find a way to raise our awareness as well as our hopes.

A lot of educational tours to New York City include a visit to the famous bull of Wall Street, or more appropriately now of Bowling Green.  It is one of the most photographed attractions in the city.  It certainly seems to capture the American spirit in many ways as well as the spirit of this powerful, buzzing financial district as epitomized by Wall Street.  I'm beginning to understand why in the game of Pitt, which mimics the stock exchange, the bull card counts for you if you win - but way, way against you if you lose.

I think it's a bit much to pray to the guy.  But I definitely like the idea of a little tangible inspiration to keep us believing in our ability to get through this and to come out as truly powerful and American as ever.  What I want to know is, what timeless artistic work are we going to see at the end of our current trouble?

City parks, if they hadn't before, certainly got their due credit this past week when Grant Park in Chicago became the scene for one of the most historic moments in our country.  All of the other city parks probably wished it had been them.

New York City has many neighborhoods, districts, and parks - all famous for various attractions, some famous simply for their unique personality.  Many districts, parks, and neighborhoods in southern Manhattan have changed since one tragic day in September 2001.  Battery Park is one of them.

Located along the waterfront, Battery Park runs ferries to and from the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.  It has war memorials and a tribute to AIDS victims.  But since 9/11, Battery Park has added a memorial to the victims of that day.  It is called the eternal flame.  A sculpture that used to rest in the World Trade Center plaza has also been added to Battery Park's focal points.

New York's city parks are great additions to student tours.  There are several to choose from; Battery Park is just one of the many.  But its rich history and moving tributes set it apart as thoroughly as November 4, 2008, made Grant Park in Chicago a household name.

It was the Irish potato famine for me.  For many, it was religious persecution, financial despair - and most often, simply an unquenchable conviction that America offered hope for a better future.  These are some of the reasons many of our ancestors made the dangerous trek across oceans to become a part of the newest and greatest nation on earth.  Many of them entered through Ellis Island in New York City.  (Photo by melanzane on Flickr).

Although no longer functioning as a check point for immigration, Ellis Island is now a tribute to the hundreds of thousands of lives that began again upon entering the United States of America.  Their bravery and optimism is celebrated, their names listed in a tribute to their dedication to a better life, their faces pictured - forever captured in history as people who dared to hope.

Ellis Island is the perfect attraction for student tours because it memorializes such a pivotal era in American history.  Our generation - and several before us - is lucky enough never to have felt the kind of despair that caused these immigrants to leave the countries of their birth.  We take for granted the freedoms they were promised.  Some of us even lose faith at times in the country that was esteemed so highly then.  Perhaps if we could see what they did, our faith would be restored.

Consider Ellis Island for New York City educational tours.  It was the beginning of new life for millions of people.  And the beginning is always a good place to start.

New York City is also one of the most popular cities for student travel.  There are so many attractions here perfect for senior class trips as well as educational tours.  The art and history museums as well as those with a little more pop culture, Central Park, Times Square, Broadway - New York City is packed - from one bridge or tunnel to the next - with excitement, education, inspiration and awesome memory-making potential.

The Statue of Liberty is perhaps the first attraction you think of for NYC, especially if you're looking to focus on history and education.  There is so much to learn about this beautiful statue and all it represents.  Each person who visits here will undoubtedly find their own reason to be grateful that America's shores provided such hope and promise for those who found their way to them.

It's a beautiful way to start your New York City tour just as it was a meaningful beginning for so many early immigrants to the States. (Photo by Mark Heard on Flickr).