New York Mills students see government in action on Washington trip

Twenty-five New York Mills High School students and 10 adult chaperones returned from a Close Up trip that took them from Otter Tail County to Washington, D.C., and New York City, where they saw government in action and experienced the country’s largest civic and cultural centers firsthand.

The program put the group on Capitol Hill and into the world of U.S. Congress, giving students a direct look at hearings, institutions and public life that usually exist only in textbooks and television clips. Close Up describes its Washington, D.C. high school program as a six-day, five-night experience, and its combined Washington and New York City travel option as an eight-day, seven-night trip focused on how politics and business shape the country.

That kind of exposure matters in New York Mills, where the school district says its mission is to develop flexible, engaged learners and “responsible citizens” through community collaboration. In a rural district, a trip like this stretches civic education beyond the classroom and into the places where federal decisions are made, showing students how local life in places like New York Mills and wider public policy are connected.

The New York Mills Dispatch also published a photo showing members of the Close Up group with Minnesota Rep. Michelle Fishbach, adding a familiar state political face to a trip centered on national government. For students who spent time in Washington and New York City, that image ties the experience back to Minnesota politics and underscores how elected officials, federal institutions and everyday community concerns intersect.

Close Up says it was founded in 1971 and has served more than one million students and educators through experiential programs that use Washington as a “living classroom.” For the New York Mills group, the value of the trip was bigger than sightseeing. It gave 35 travelers from a small Otter Tail County school district a closer look at how democracy works, and why it still matters when they come home.