At a recent D97 school board meeting, one local parent expressed her deep frustration that the district is no longer organizing a Washington D.C. trip for our 8th-graders. This trip was part of the district’s civic education program for decades, and participating families found it incredibly rewarding for their children. Last year, there was a trip to Springfield instead. By many accounts, it was lackluster. This year, students went to Nashville, and again, there has been a sense of disappointment, with many families opting out or organizing their own shadow D.C. trip.
I remember how excited my classmates were to go to Washington as 7th-graders in River Forest, and how enormously they enjoyed it. It was truly a gift for the class. Unfortunately, I was unable to go because my family didn’t have the resources to send me. That is part of why I have joined with a group of local parents to fundraise and make this trip happen.
As a democracy, civic education is the bedrock of our governance, and there is no place in the U.S. where students can learn more about our government and our history than in the nation’s capital. A trip to Washington D.C. is an incredible opportunity for young Americans to see the three branches at work, to experience the grandeur of our accomplishments and the complicated history of our past, not to mention the fraught situation of our present. Now is the best time for a young person to go to D.C. to understand how they can become the leaders of tomorrow and work toward a better future in whatever role they choose.
It is a shame that the district has chosen to use the guise of equity as the reason our students are no longer participating. Equity is exactly the reason we, as a community and a school district, must come together to invest in our kids and ensure every one of them can make the trip.
Elise Coleman
Oak Park