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High school students fundraising for D.C. trip

Lindsey Manuel-McInerney, a history teacher at Havre High School, said that she has nine juniors who are trying to raise funds for their trip to Washington, D.C., in April.

The students are taking the trip as a part of the Close Up program, which invites students from around the country to tour the nation's capital.

"It's a nonprofit organization that helps inspire students to become active in the democratic process, learning about our history and learning about how the government works," McInerney said.

Sunday, their final and biggest fundraiser will be from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Eagles Club where they will have a free-will donation breakfast of pancakes, sausage and eggs, as well as a silent auction and will be selling 50/50 tickets. The winner for the 50/50 will be drawn toward the end of the fundraiser.

Some of the auction items include a homemade Blue Pony quilt, a Down Under Fitness Club month-long membership, a Montana calendar, Dairy Queen certificates and more.

The biggest item by far is a vacation rental in Gardiner for a four-night stay for up to 30 people.

"We're just hoping people will come out and support our students," McInerney said.

It costs about $2,000 for each student to go on the trip, and they have been raising funds through concessions and smaller fundraisers all year. They have about $6,000 raised so far.

"This is kind of the big one," McInerney said. " ... The more people that show up, the better."

The students will pay out of pocket for the funds they are not able to raise. Sophomores are also fundraising this year to help pay for the trip they plan to take when they are juniors.

Once the students leave for Washington April 18, they will go on tours of monuments, take workshops at night, communicate with other students from around the country and much more.

McInerney said she will be traveling with them and supervising them while she is not at teacher's workshops, but the students will be constantly supervised by trained staff. They will be staying in a hotel full of hundreds of students from across the country, but they will be watched, she said.

"There are mean, angry hall monitors that sit out in the hallway at night," McInerney said jokingly.

This is the first kind of trip Havre High students have taken. They have been to Washington, D.C., before, but not through an educational program like this.

"What I really like about this program is that it's for any kid," McInerney said. "You don't have to be a political junkie, you don't have to be a straight-A kid. Obviously, you have to be able to travel in a group and be able to be away from home for a week. ... But, it's really for any type of kid. You're meeting kids from other cultures from around the country, and I think it's just a good way to get out of your little box."

 

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