Most of the Sidney C. Huntington middle school will be adventuring the United States capital in Washington D.C. during the month of April.

The sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students will be traveling with the Close Up group, which teaches students from around the country about government and democracy, according to the group’s website.

During the Close-Up visit, students will participate in different activities such as exploring the U.S. Capitol, visiting Arlington National Cemetery, touring Gettysburg, and examining the Declaration of Independence at the National Archives.

The middle school students have raised about $40,000 for the trip, and they did a lot of fundraising during the basketball tournaments and during several other events.

The fund raising included cake walks, raffles, concessions, hauling wood, helping make crafts, and getting donations. The students worked really hard these past couple months, said Trisha Esmailka, Close Up chaperone and parent of one of the students.

Middle school student Brianna Morry, a sixth-grader, said she hopes to see the president and is very excited.

Shelby Williams, a seventh-grader, said she’s also excited to learn about the monuments and learn what happens in the museums in Washington D.C.

The chaperones are Trisha Esmailka, John Billings Jr., and Dr. Tamara Huntington.

We’re excited to have a lot of students and hoping that every few years, students will still want to keep going to the Close Up, said Dr. Huntington.

There are 18 students going to the Close up the students are:
Bethany Grant
Bree McClain
Celest Kriska
Sable Scotton
Shelby Williams
Pearle Green
Paytyn Cleaver
Joe Riddle
Paul Huntington
Landen Olin-Duncan
Cashious Bergman
Kevin Bergman
Ian Esmailka
Virgil Sam Jr.
Everett Aloysius
Branden Nollner
Charles Carlo
Briana Morry