Extension Communications
3614 Administrative Services Building
Ames, Iowa 50011-3614
(515) 294-9915
1/31/01
Contacts:
Marsha Roland, State Citizenship Washington Focus
coordinator, (515) 859-3902
Shirley Stakey, 4-H Youth Development, (515) 294-1531,
stakey@iastate.edu
Tracy S. Petersen, Continuing Education and Communication
Services, (515) 294-9915
Iowa Youth Can Apply Now To Attend Citizenship Program in Washington, D.C.
Iowa high school-age youths will travel to Washington, D.C. this summer to learn about citizenship in the nation's capital.
This year 150 youths from central, northern and eastern Iowa will participate in the 38th annual Citizenship Washington Focus (CWF) program, offered by the National 4-H Council. Participants need not be 4-H members to be eligible.
The CWF program is designed to help youths increase their appreciation and respect for themselves and others, as well as increase citizen involvement. The program is held at the National 4-H Center near Washington, D.C.
Participants will meet senators and representatives and attend workshops and social activities. They will tour sites in the Washington, D.C., area, including the Washington National Cathedral, Mount Vernon and many memorials. The participants also will attend a U.S. Department of Agriculture presentation.
"This trip is just so physically and mentally stimulating, the youths come home fired up about all the things they've seen and learned and the people they've met," said Marsha Roland, Iowa State University (ISU) Extension coordinator for the CWF program. "They are all there with a common goal and a sense of purpose. They really get a good idea of what government is all about."
After they return home, the participants are asked to complete a local community service project.
The Iowa groups will travel June 8 to 17 and June 30 to July 8. The trip costs range from $700 to $930, depending on group travel plans and accommodations. Some financial assistance is available. Those counties not participating in Citizenship Washington Focus this year will do so in 2002.
For a list of counties eligible for the trip, an application, registration deadlines or further information, contact your ISU Extension county office.
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Extension programs are available to all without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, or disability.