Perry High School students Devin Patrick, T. J. Sheehy and Sadee Whitfield were accompanied by faculty adviser Curt Cornelius last month on a five-day visit to the nation’s capitol to attend the Skills USA National Leadership Institute.
“We left really, really early Saturday (Sept. 17) from Des Moines and we got back real, real late Wednesday, but it was really Thursday (Sept. 22),” Whitfield said. “That was kind of rough, both ways, but it was the only thing, I think, that any of us didn’t like — the whole trip was just incredible.”
Skills USA is a student-led nationwide program intended to prepare high school students to succeed in the work force. More than 430 representatives from 48 states (excluding Alaska and Hawaii) and the District of Columbia attended the annual event, with the officers from each state leadership group and an adviser the invitees.
As the three Iowa state officers, the Perry trio had the opportunity to meet up friends and contacts they had made from other states while competing in the Skills USA National Competition in Louisville, Ky., in June.
“That was awesome to run into our friends again,” Sheehy said. “We made a lot of good friends who I am sure we will stay in touch with. It was great to see them again and to share what they had learned and what we had learned.”
“The sharing of ideas and information is critical in Skills USA,” Patrick said. “Our job was to learn as much as we could and to bring that all back with us, to share with the other Skills USA schools in Iowa.”
Patrick said he was impressed by the adults in charge of Skills USA at the national level with whom the Perry team interacted.
“They stressed that this is a student-led organization, and we were able to see for ourselves that it really is,” he said. “We all appreciated that we were treated with respect and as adults. Our thoughts and ideas were considered crucial, and we felt like we were really listened to.”
Students were addressed by a number of guest speakers, including corporate leaders from Snap-On Tools, Caterpillar Inc. and others.
Whitfield noted that Skills USA is supported by Perkins Funding and that the bill re-authorizing full federal funding was up for a vote in the U.S. Senate just days after they arrived.
“That was a big part of what we wanted to see happen and what we prepared for,” she said. “We were able to meet Iowa Senator Joni Ernst and David Young, who is the Congressman from our district.”
“We had at least a half-hour with Senator Ernst in her office, and she could not have been nicer,” Whitfield added. “She listened to what we had to say and asked good questions.”
When the meeting was over, an Ernst aide gave the Perry group a tour of the U.S. Capitol, which left quite the impression.
“It was amazing,” Patrick said. “You cannot believe how huge the place really is. There are all these underground tunnels, secure rooms and so much more. It looks big on TV, but going on the tour and seeing where the House and Senate meet was unbelievable.”
Sheehy said Ernst and Young — with whom the group also had an extended meeting — were both polite and warm.
“They asked us about Perry, what we like in school, all sorts of things,” she said. “I think they liked talking to us students for a change instead of all the other people who are always trying to see them.”
The Perkins Funding bill stalled on the Senate floor last month despite broad support from both sides of the political aisle when Republican lawmakers sought to impose restrictions on the Secretary of Education’s authority to approve state plans for spending the federal money.
With the November elections looming, action on the bill is now considered unlikely until the new Congress is sworn in in January, according to Congressional reporters.
The students and their adviser were also able to tour the Mall in Washington, D.C., and visit many famous sites. All the Iowa visitors were duly impressed.
“The Lincoln Memorial was incredible, and we got to stand right where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous speech,” Sheehy said. “That was a great moment.”
Patrick said he was moved by the World War II Memorial and the Vietnan War Memorial.
“All around you are people talking, but you step inside the border of ‘the wall’ and it is quiet, unbelievably quiet and respectful,” he said. “I won’t forget that.”
Whitfield said she might have been most impressed by witnessing a Changing of the Guard and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery.
“There were all these people, but it was so still,” she said. “It was quite the experience.”
The threesome said they returned to Perry brimming with ideas to share and put to use.
“It was a fun trip, but I think I can say we all learned quite a bit,” Patrick said. “Our job now will be to make it worth it, to make sure what we learned is put to use.”
