Washington D.C. - Journey of a Lifetime

For eight Harvest of Hope Leadership Academy (HHLA) students, this year’s spring break was one of the most memorable. This March 2011, HHLA took 8 of its top students from the past two summer academies to Washington D.C. for a trip of a lifetime.

Conrado Gonzalez and Ramon Rivera (Emporia), Jennifer Allende and Stephany Aguirre (Great Bend), Luis Reyes (Lakin), Jorge Salamanca (Johnson), Kenia Macias (Hugoton), and Juana Rodriguez (Gardner) attended the Close Up Program in Washington DC, where they were able to experience democracy in action.

The Close Up Program was a 6-day long experience, where students from all over the U.S. interacted and made friends while they also visited historic sites, monuments and memorials and learned the history behind the U.S. government.

They also had the opportunity to meet with our Kansas Senators’ offices where they asked questions about issues that were important to them, like immigration, the intervention in Libya, and education. Other activities included a mock congress, a debate, visits to the Smithsonian and Holocaust Museums, and a tour of the U.S. Capitol, the Supreme Court, and the House of Representatives Gallery where laws are passed.

Visit our website for more program information:http://www2.ku.edu/~hhla/