Support the Timberjay by making a donation.

Serving Northern St. Louis County, Minnesota

VERMILION COUNTRY CHARTER SCHOOL

A ‘close up’ visit to D.C. and NYC

Politics, history and culture focus of eight-day adventure

Posted

TOWER- Returning from a whirlwind tour of Washington, D.C., and New York City, seven students and two staff from Vermilion Country Charter School were exhausted, elated, and excited to put their new perspectives on government into action.

The trip was organized by the Close Up Program, which designed a jam-packed itinerary for the eight-day tour. The focus of the trip was showing the students democracy in action, as well as their own place as citizens in the process.

Close Up’s role in helping students develop that readiness and capacity lies in direct exposure to the historical foundations, institutional structures, and day-to-day practices that underlie reasoned discourse, debate and cooperative decision-making.

So students not only toured the Capitol, they met with Minnesota legislators and participated in student debates and a mock legislative panel. They discussed issues such as indigenous rights, gun rights, and gay marriage. They learned about issues faced by teenagers placed in adult prisons.

The group from VCS was paired with students from high schools across the country and from the U.S. Virgin Islands.

“This trip really opened my eyes to how important politics is,” said VCS Senior Austin Ferguson.

“This is the best experience I’ve ever had in my life,” he said.

The trip included visits to many of the Smithsonian Museums, Arlington National Cemetery, many monuments, the White House and Capitol buildings.

As a whole, the part of the trip that impressed the VCS students the most was the time they spent in Times Square, in New York City. Between the crowds, the noise, and a brief moment when some of the group got separated from the others and had to navigate a few blocks on their own, the students had never been in a place more different from their hometown.

“I really appreciate the quietness of Tower after being in Times Square in New York City,” said Ferguson. “Three of us had to link arms and push through the crowd to get to the restaurant.”

While Washington, D.C., didn’t look that different from Minneapolis, students said, the skyline and sidewalks of New York was something they had never seen before.

“The people in Washington were really nice,” they said. “But it didn’t look that different from Minneapolis.”

The students enjoyed their small group meetings with Sen. Al Franken, and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, and Rep. Rick Nolan. They had a chance to ask questions and talk about local issues, such as mining. And while they expected former comedian Franken to be funny (which he was), they all said Nolan and Klobuchar both had the students laughing as well as learning.

Students were up early and days lasted until 11 p.m. Tours involved a lot of walking, about 12 miles each day. The final night in Washington the students attended a Close-Up dance, which they all enjoyed.

The trip also offered the students a chance to make new friends.

“I really liked getting to know the other students,” said Carissa Raj. “They were from all over the country. I liked being in workshops with them.”

In New York, students toured lower Manhattan, visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art, walked in Central Park, attended a Broadway musical, and toured the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

An authentic Italian dinner in Little Italy was the culinary highlight of the trip.

Teacher Jennifer Mounsdon and Office Manager Sara Milbridge chaperoned the trip. Both had gone on Close-Up trips when they were in high school.

They hope to be able to offer the trip every two years. The trip did take a substantial fundraising effort.

“The fundraising was a lot of work,” said Raj. “But it was worth it.”

Mounsdon and Milbridge said the students were great representatives for the charter school. The students were enthusiastic and were able to handle the sometimes hectic schedule.

As teachers, they participated in some adult-only programming while students attended other activities.