Extension Communications
3614 Administrative Services Building
Ames, Iowa 50011-3614
(515) 294-9915
11/1/02
Contacts:
Marsha Roland, State Citizenship Washington Focus coordinator, (515) 859-3902
Mitch Hoyer, 4-H Youth Development, (515) 294-1531, mhoyer@iastate.edu
Tracy S. Petersen, Continuing Education and Communication Services, (515)
294-9915
Iowa Youths Can Apply Now To Attend Citizenship Program in Washington, D.C.
AMES, Iowa -- Iowa high school-age youth will travel to Washington, D.C., this summer to learn about citizenship in the nation's capital. The trip is coordinated by Iowa State University Extension 4-H Youth Development.
This year youth from central and north central Iowa as well as Mills and Fremont counties will participate in the 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 helps youth 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 Gettysburg, 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 youth come home fired up about all the things they've seen and learned and the people they've met," Marsha Roland, Iowa State University (ISU) Extension coordinator for the CWF program, said. "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 complete a local community service project.
The Iowa groups will travel in June. Those counties not participating in Citizenship Washington Focus this year will do so in 2004.
For a list of counties eligible for the trip, an application, registration deadlines or further information, contact your ISU Extension county office. Information also is available at the National 4-H Council Web site: http://www.fourhcouncil.edu/. Click on "programs," then "DC Tours" for information on Citizenship Washington Focus.
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Extension programs are available to all without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, or disability.