APGov DC Trip 23 Day 4

Happy Veterans Day! We spent the morning at Arlington National Cemetery, visiting Kennedy's grave, the Marine Corps memorial, and other sites - we couldn't get into the official ceremony with Pres' Biden speaking.

We took the Metro back to the Mall and had lunch at the food trucks there. We then did some more museums, especially the Holocaust Museum and the Air and Space Museum.

For dinner, most of us walked across town the Busboys and Poets for dinner, and even caught half a Georgetown basketball game on the way back.

Tomorrow we will be up early for our flight home - it has been a wonderful adventure!

APGov DC Trip 23 Day 3

Today was a day for the Smithsonians. We started at the Museum of the American Indian. 

Next we visited the Museum of African American History and Culture, where we also enjoyed a nice lunch.

Finally we split up to visit the National Archives, the Museum of Natural History, and the Museum of American History.

We grabbed dinner again down at The Wharf.

APGov DC Trip 23 Day 2

Day 2 was focused on the executive branch, with a visit to the judicial. We started with a visit to the White House, which despite having been to DC many times, I had never done. It is a beautiful walk through an old mansion.

Next, after grabbing some food at Western Market, was our visit to the State Department, which our friends Zach and Sarah had set up for us. We went through a lengthy security check, and then went up to the 7th floor where we got to walk through Mahogany Row - where the Secretary and other leaders offices and meeting rooms are, and then got to go into the nerve center of the department with its live connections to embassies and consulates around the world - where the first call comes in when there's a problem. We also saw "the Line" where they prepare for the many trips. This was a unique opportunity - not part of any tourist program.

After the visit, we Metro-ed to Capitol Hill and visited the Supreme Court building. We got to the usual lecture in the SCOTUS chamber (the second highest court - to the basketball court above it). 

We grabbed an early dinner at Union Station. 

After that, some of us went to the Library of Congress and some of us headed back to the hotel to rest up for our night tour.

It was a spectacular night for a walking monuments tour!

APGov DC Trip 23 Day 1

Nothing like a 4am start at Exit 6. All were on time which was good because the 415 bus was early. Got to Logan at 615 and it took a while to get checked in at JetBlue, but we had time to get some breakfast before boarding our 745 flight. Had a beautiful morning view of the Cape and islands as we flew south.  

Landed on time at Reagan and rode the Metro to L’Enfant Plaza for a short walk to the Holiday Inn. 

After a quick change we walked up the the Capitol where we met up with Grace Fernandes, Monomoy graduate and aide to Sen. Markey. 

She and an intern gave us the Capitol tour - always a highlight of a DC trip.

 After the tour, we had lunch in the Senate cafeteria and then went to our meeting with Sen. Markey. He was very generous to spend a half hour with us in the middle of a busy day. 

After our meeting, we went with him to a hearing of a subcommittee of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee which Sen. Markey was leading, discussing the perils of artificial intelligence in the health care industry. We next got to visit the gallery of the Senate chamber, which was beautiful though not busy. We did get to hear a couple of Senators make a couple speeches mostly to get them in the record.

We went back to our hotel, then walked down to the Shake Shack at The Wharf on the Potomac. It was a wonderful day focused on the Legislative Branch - thank you Grace for setting us up! 

Congressional Debate 11/3/22

The students of the MRHS Political Action Club hosted and ran a debate between Rep. William Keating and Republican challenger, Jesse Brown.

You can view the debate here.

Congressional Debate 10/23/20

 The students of the MRHS Political Action Club hosted a virtual debate today on Zoom between Rep. William Keating (D), Michael Manley (I), and Helen Brady (R).

You can view the debate here (the beginning is missing, including their opening statements).

Presidential Primary Exit Poll - March 3, 2020

Monomoy Regional High School Civics Students conducted an exit poll of the presidential primary today at the Harwich Community Center. A total of 55 students participated, interviewing 193 voters, who were asked about potential general election match-ups, their most important issues, their decision timing, and their opinion of President Trump, as well as their preference in the primary. The poll questions can be found here. We interviewed about three times as many Democratic voters as Republican, which is not surprising since the Republican primary isn't being strongly contested. Among the Democrats, we found Biden leading with 48%, Warren with 21%, Sanders with 19%, and Bloomberg with 8%. Analyzing by age, Sanders led among voters 18-39, Warren led among those 40-59, and Biden got the most support among those over 60. Among the issues we asked about, Pres. Trump was most likely to get the support of those who cited the economy or taxes as their most important issue, and Biden got the most support of those who cited health care or character issues. Complete results can be seen below. Thank you to all those who took the time to talk to our students today!