Sixteen Mount St. Mary students spent the week of January 20-26 exploring our nation’s capital with Close Up. This year marks the 10th year the school has participated in the experience-based, educational travel program in Washington, D.C.
The cold temperatures and partial government shutdown didn’t keep the group from enjoying a jam-packed schedule of engaging, hands-on activities. Highlights of the week-long adventure included visiting Mount Vernon, the Holocaust Memorial Museum, and the Supreme Court Building, touring the U.S. Capitol, witnessing the Changing of the Guard ritual at Arlington National Cemetery’s Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and meeting U.S. Representative French Hill. The Mount St. Mary students also had the opportunity to participate in debates and a Mock Congress, hear from a variety of panels, and attend School of Rock – The Musical at the National Theatre with approximately 600 students from other states who were also participating in Close Up.
“Close Up shows our students firsthand what they’ve learned in class and gives them the opportunity to fully experience our nation’s capital as well as consider their roles in our political system today and in the future,” MSM social studies teacher and trip chaperone Brendan Britt said. Britt, who participated in Close Up in high school, was instrumental in adding the program to Mount St. Mary Academy’s list of annual educational travel options in 2010.
Using the nation’s capital as a “living classroom,” Close Up seeks to inform, inspire, and empower young people to exercise the rights and accept the responsibilities of citizens in a democracy. Since 1971, it has served nearly 850,000 students and teachers from schools around the country through its Washington-based civic education programs and classroom resources.
Mount St. Mary Academy, sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy, develops young women with a moral and intellectual foundation rooted in Catholic tradition. Mercy-minded and college-prepared, our students meet the future with wisdom, compassion and integrity.