Brave enough to travel with 35 seventh-graders and eighth-graders from Fremont Junior High School on a six-day excursion from Arizona to Washington, D.C., Mr. Whitehead, an American history teacher at Fremont along with two chaperones, Mrs. Becky Salas and Mrs. Nancy Crispin, were more than up to the task.
According to Mr. Whitehead, an energetic and passionate teacher, “I want to provide students the opportunity to have history brought to life for them.”
This trip is all part of the nationwide Close Up Program, which has been in existence since 1971. As the mission statement emphasizes, “Close Up informs, inspires and empowers young people to exercise the rights and accept the responsibilities of citizens in a democracy.” Check out the Web site at www.closeup.org.
The Close Up’s program concentrates on history and citizenship issues with students from middle school to high school. “We all need to work together for the benefit of our whole country,” stated Mr. Whitehead, “and what better to advance this thinking than in our future leaders.”
The seventh-grade students on the trip have a year of American history under their belts, while the eighth-graders have almost two years. The eighth-grade year focuses more on American government. Close Up provides the educational aspects of this trip as the students are kept busy every day, from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.
The learning just doesn’t happen as they are visiting every possible historic site in the D.C. area. The buses on which they travel in the city are classrooms on wheels. The students are doing activities while going from place to place, as program instructors keep them thinking. There is usually one instructor for every 20 students.
The trip is a whirlwind of activity. Kaitlyn Misch, an eighth-grader, knows this first hand. She has had the privilege of attending the past two years. Kaitlyn loved the Washington Monument. “The history behind it is cool, and it is very pretty,” she said. When she went last year, it was under construction. So, Kaitlyn was thrilled to see the renovations completed.
After their exciting day and dinner is over, the students have opportunities to interact with students from all over the United States. This year, that included students from Florida, Alaska, Kansas, California and the Hopi Indian Reservation here in Arizona. The students participate in discussions focusing on citizenship and history. This year, the students were able to create a mock Congress. It was a great way to see government in action and apply their learning.
This trip usually occurs in April, but Fremont opted this year to go in January because of the inauguration. The students actually were able to attend President Barack Obama’s second inauguration. A huge thank you needs to go to Senator Jeff Flake, who gave them amazing tickets to the inauguration. He also met personally with the Fremont students.
A trip like this is priceless. In order to pay for the trip, students are able to seek Extracurricular Activity donations from family and friends in the state. The trip usually costs around $2,000, which includes everything. It was a bit more this year with the inauguration. Students must have passing grades to attend, which is a grade of C or better. If a student has a D, the teacher is required to approve that student’s attendance on the trip.
Mr. Whitehead has coordinated this trip for eight years. Currently, he is in the process of planning the April 2014 trip. Fliers will be distributed to sixth-grade students in Mesa at the end of the year to bring home so their planning can begin. Other junior high schools in Mesa also do this trip. My own two children went on this trip more than 10 years ago, and they still talk about the experience.
“I loved my trip when I went in junior high,” said Katie Nicholls, a mother whose seventh-grader went on the trip, “and I hope my son talks about his trip when he is an adult.” Nathan, a seventh-grader, just might do so. “I loved the architecture and how it was so different than Arizona,” he said. “I loved my trip.”
If you want your child to experience a trip that makes history relevant, look for those fliers coming home, and reflect upon the words of Kaitlyn Misch. “The inauguration was my favorite,” she said. “We are being made part of American history by being there.”