Wednesday, June 19th, 2019
Our last day in Washington DC started with breakfast being delivered to our rooms. We got dressed in our red polos and headed to Capitol Hill. We started out by getting photos in front of the capitol building. Dalton Schmit, 2012 Iowa Youth Tourer, stopped by and talked with the students. He now works for Facebook in Texas. The students had fun quizzing him about current Facebook policy topics. We then spilt into our congressional districts and met with each of our House Representatives. The students were able to engage and cover a variety of current political topics with their legislators.
Next, we took a guided tour of the US. Capitol building led by staff members from Senators Grassley and Ernst’s offices. Lunch was held at the NRECA townhouse, which is just a short walk from the Capitol Hill. We had pizza and cooled off in the A/C. Following lunch, we all visited the Library of Congress. Senators Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst met with the group on the steps of the U.S. Capitol building in front of the Senate Chambers. The Senators fielded many questions and everyone seemed to have a really good time. This experience really immerses them in politics and personalizes the process.
The Embassy of Portugal agreed to host the Iowa Youth Tour group. They allowed us to tour their embassy. Additionally, they had a diplomat that talked to the students about Portugal and the EU.
The evening was spent at the Newseum where all the states came together for a farewell event. The Newseum was privately rented for Youth Tour. With close to 2,000 people in this museum, there were a lot of memories made and more pin trading. The Newseum highlights the importance of the first amendment.
We arrived back at the hotel around 9 pm. The snack co-op held its annual meeting and the chaperones gave out awards to each of the students. The night ended with lots of tears and emotions as the students talked about their experiences and newly formed friendships over the last week. Will won the Amazon gift card for the most collected pins.
Today, Thursday, June 20th, the wake-up call was at 5:00 am and we took one last bus ride with Rob to the airport. This trip has truly been an amazing experience for the students and they will have the memories and friendships for a lifetime. It has been fun to be a chaperone and to view the trip from a different perspective. Rural Electrical Cooperatives are a necessity for our communities and they are consistently giving back to their members. On behalf of the students and myself thank you to all the cooperatives that sponsored students. Additionally, thank you, Shelly, for your hard work and organizing such a great trip. Welcome back to Iowa everyone!
Clayton Merritt
Youth Tour Intern
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