On February 2, Ridgeline High School students woke up extra early to take a long awaited trip to the capital. 

The day consisted of a one-and-a-half hour drive to the capital, followed by tours of the different building rooms, and explanations to any questions that they had. In the morning, Michael Wing was ready to go trafficking kids through to the buses. However, they were met with a problem: the buses were not showing up. They waited 10 minutes, which quickly turned into 30 and then an hour. Things couldn’t have been worse for Mr. Wing. “I feel like the buses might not even come at all,” said Gage Weeks. They were about to lose all hope when, all of the sudden, the buses showed up with apologetic drivers explaining how there was an error with communication. 

Despite the long wait, students were still all excited to get going. When they arrived at the capital, they took a brisk walk to the legislative building, where they listened to a couple of hearings and then were quickly shuffled out. Following the hearings, they headed off to the main event: watching congress argue over bills and legislation. Trent explained that he didn’t understand anything that was going on, and that he generally dislikes politics. “Let’s head back to the buses for lunch,” he complained. However, he was an odd one out. Many enjoyed getting to experience the government functions firsthand.

To finish off the day, students filed into a large room, where their local senators and representatives met for a question-and-answer session. Students took serious advantage of it, firing off nonstop questions. Jake Alles asked Casey Snider about the ongoing railroad situation in Logan, and said that “he seemed very upset about it.”

As the Q&A was wrapping up, students started to look very tired, so they made their way back to the buses for a long ride home, having gained a deeper understanding and respect for the state government. 

“This was so much more educational than going to school,” said Gage Weeks.