Pictured, from left, are Laura Flores Gordian, senior, Superintendent Bill Newton, Abelardo Gomes Gordian, junior, Emmanuel Galindo Chamonica, sophomore and Mariajulia Cruz Valencia, freshman. The students were part of a migrant education field trip to Washington, D.C., over spring break.
Pictured, from left, are Laura Flores Gordian, senior, Superintendent Bill Newton, Abelardo Gomes Gordian, junior, Emmanuel Galindo Chamonica, sophomore and Mariajulia Cruz Valencia, freshman. The students were part of a migrant education field trip to Washington, D.C., over spring break.
HOOD RIVER — A group of 24 Hood River Valley High School migrant education students had the opportunity to travel to Washington, D.C., over spring break to participate in a Close Up Foundation’s Washington, D.C., High School Program, “a six day and five night program for high school students to experience their government in action” (www.closeup.org).
Laura Flores Gordian, senior, Abelardo Gomes Gordian, junior, Emmanuel Galindo Chamonica, sophomore and Mariajulia Cruz Valencia, freshman, joined by HRVHS Graduation Specialist America Flores and Region 9 Migrant Education Program Director Patricia Ortega-Cooper, briefed directors at the April 10 Hood River County School District board meeting at the Coe Administration Building.
Ortega-Cooper said to qualify for the trip, the students had to express interest, take lessons and put in volunteer hours.
“Even though I said ‘field trip,’ you will learn from them that it was a class outside the classroom,” she said.
The students recounted exploring museums and war memorials, visiting Arlington National Cemetery, attending a theater performance and touring the White House.
They also participated in a mock-Congress exercise, took a political values workshop, and met with the staff of senators and representatives to discuss farmworker rights, education funding and mental health.
Gomes Gordian said the goals for the trip were to gain new political experiences and learn different political viewpoints, meeting new people and leaving their own comfort zones.
“This experience really helps them become leaders and realize their potential and empowers them,” Flores said. “… They can do it right now, they can do it as students, they can do it as teenagers,” she said. “They don’t have to wait to get validation from anybody else.”
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