ST. THOMAS \u2013 Some 30 students from Charlotte Amalie and Ivanna Eudora Kean high schools will leave for Washington, D.C. Saturday to attend Close Up, a program that offers high school and middle school students from across the United States an insider\u2019s view of the U.S. democracy through a host of educational activities in and around the nation\u2019s capital.<\/p>\n
The annual trip \u2013 which lasts from April 25 to May 3 \u2013 is federally funded through the U.S. Department of Interior\u2019s education fund, according to Annie Smith, the social studies coordinator in St. Thomas.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is an academic program, although the students are going to see the different sights of Washington, D.C., it is linked with their academics,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n
Students will learn about the history of the District of Columbia, the city\u2019s subway system, as well as the features that make Washington D.C. unique, she said. Students will visit the new Martin Luther King, Jr. monument and other sites, as well as the offices of Virgin Islands Delegate to Congress Stacey Plaskett.<\/p>\n
Close Up also offers local students cultural stimulation through interaction with peers who attend from different parts of the United States. Smith explained that each of the territory\u2019s students will be housed with two other students who are not from the Virgin Islands.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey get to build personal relationships with other students from around the United States,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Students participating in the week-long program may also earn college credit through Washington, D.C.-based American University and Close Up also offers a component geared towards the educational enrichment of teachers who attend.<\/p>\n