MVHS students to travel to nation’s capital next month

Not even a foot injury could slow down Rene Caro. Not when he was given a chance to travel to Washington, D.C. for free.

“Out of so many kids, we were selected to go,” said Caro, who broke a bone in his foot playing for the Bulldogs’ soccer team. “I’m always going to remember this.”

Caro and five other Mount Vernon High School students will get a chance to rub elbows with officials in the nation’s capital next month. The school district was selected to send six students to the Close Up foundation’s High School Program for New Americans, which teaches students the basics of citizenship, democracy and the political system.

“It’s an opportunity for students to see that there is something beyond Mount Vernon,” said Veronica Gonzalez, the high school’s migrant advocate. “They can come back to the high school and join ASB or other leadership activities after taking part in these leadership conferences.”

Students will spend June 16-20 in Washington, D.C., exploring monuments and meeting politicians from around the country, said Lupe Barajas, interim migrant bilingual coordinator for the school district.

The trip, funded by the Washington state Secondary Education for Migrant Youth program, is just the latest in more than 10 leadership conferences the school has sponsored this year. Students in the program have already traveled to Olympia, and have met a number of local career and college professionals.

“During these leadership conferences, students start to really get to know each other,” Gonzalez said. “They start to understand that they’re not so different from each other.”

Conferences typically involve between five and 100 students from the high school traveling to a local event and learning about either a career or school, she said. Students generally must have high grades and must show a willingness to learn in order to participate.

Many of the students going to Washington, D.C. have never been on an airplane before.

“It’s going to be a little bit of a culture shock for some of them,” said Lydia Byergo, the high school’s bilingual advocate. Byergo and Gonzalez have been working closely together since Byergo stepped into the role seven months ago. Both will chaperone the students on the trip.

The state migrant youth program pays for air fare, room and board for the five students. The school district pays for the sixth student.

Barajas said parents have also been supportive of their students taking the trip across the country.

“We’ve been telling them, ‘It doesn’t cost a thing, just your signature,’” Barajas said.