Students travel to Boston to learn the political process system

For most students, learning about the nation’s political system will only be done in a required government class, but for social studies instructor Jon Preister, senior Brett Robinson and juniors Josh Militti and Max Goldberg, the learning experience wasn’t confined to the classroom, but expanded to Boston to participate in Harvard Model Congress.

Westside first attended the Harvard Model in 2013 when a group of students found the event and asked Preister if they could attend.

“I told them I would sponsor them as long as they set everything up,” Preister said. “They got it done and so I had to be their chaperone.”

Since then, seniors have been traveling to Boston and taking a few juniors with them to pass down control for the next year.

“Last year some of the senior boys asked me if I wanted to go,” Robinson said. “I had a ton of fun so I decided to bring two juniors with me this year so I could pass it down to them.”

From Tuesday to Thursday the students participated in a simulation of congress and had the chance to tour Boston. In this simulation, students checked into their assigned caucus and went to their committee hearings.

There were multiple committees for both The House of Representatives and the Senate. Students had the chance to write legislation at the hearings, practice the original procedure real congressmen go through, go to a full meeting of either the House or Senate and observe conservative and liberal views on different issues.

Besides learning about Congress, students were able to tour Boston and enjoy all of the landmarks.

“It was fun being in the city and doing different stuff in the city,” Robinson said. “School trips are always fun and Preister took us to a lot of landmarks in Boston which was cool.”

Not only did the event have a lasting effect on Robinson, but also on the two juniors he took, Josh Militti and Max Goldberg.

“I will definitely be going next year,” Militti said. “Max and I will be taking another group of kids out there to keep the tradition going.”

Although Robinson and Militti both agreed that they didn’t learn any new processes due to government classes, they both took away knowledge on different issues discussed in their meetings.

“I think it is a great experience for the students to be put in that environment and be able to experience what it’s like,” Preister said. “It’s great that they get to interact with different people from all across the nation and take something away from it.”