Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Close Up Goes To Washington

As the Congress and the President continue the debates to set the national agenda and candidates are lining up for an election nearly two years away, 26 Gurdon High School students and teachers will travel to Washington, D.C., to learn firsthand how American government operates. The group will participate in the Close Up Foundation government studies program April 4-10.

Teachers from Gurdon traveling to Washington are Carolyn Kuhn and Charles Failla.

The students are Bryan Anderson, Robert Burchfield, Chady Calley, John Coston, Lewis Crane, Heather Davies, Cynthia Davis, Martin Downey, Brandi Escalante, Brandon Gattis, Justin Gonzales, Heather Griffin, Jessica Guthrie, Whitney Hogue, Katrina Lacy, Cassie Lynn, Kristen Mallett, Adrian Meeks, Shaelan O'Rear, Jeffrey Rhodes, Charlotte Robertson, Crystal Simpson, Tiffany Ware and Jocelyn Washington.

During their week in Washington, the students will attend seminars on Capitol Hill and meet government officials, political figures, lobbyists and a representative of the Washington press corps to learn more about the federal process. In addition, there will be opportunities to tour the city, visit local universities and attend cultural events.

The local participants will be blended with students from other areas of the country for daily debates, discussions and activities. These workshop groups focus on current events and the governing process.

"One of the main goals of the program is to show students that each person can have an impact on the community," said Steve Janger, president of Close Up Foundation.

"We offer students the opportunity to see Washington as a living city by taking them into the buildings they often see only on television, and encouraging them to question the law and policymakers they may only have read about," he said. "We have found that they usually return home with an interest in both national and community affairs. They want to get involved."

The teachers will accompany the students not as chaperones, but as participants in a program designed to acquaint them with issues and innovative educational methods.

Close Up provides fellowships for teachers and low-income students through a Congressional appropriation, with additional support from the Fred Darragh Foundation; GenCorp Foundation, Inc.; The Kerr Foundation, Inc.; 3M; The David and Lucile Packard Foundation; and Union Pacific Corporation.

The Close Up Foundation is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that provides firsthand opportunities to learn about the democratic process and the role of the individual. Since 1970 more than 500,000 students, teachers and others have taken part in Close Up Washington programs.

For additional information on Close Up Programs, call 800-256-7387 or visit its web site at www.closeup.org