January 24th 2024 was the day that Ridgeline seniors woke up early to drive down to the capitol. This trip was planned by Mr. Wing and the other government teachers who love to give government students, which consists of almost all seniors, an opportunity to go see how our democracy works.

The buses showed up around 7:15, however the students did not end up leaving until around 8. Once the students got down to Salt Lake City, there were many activities lined up for them. They sat in on a session of committee, and then toured the building learning the significance of everything and the symbolism of it as well. Ammon Adams said that “it was super cool to learn everything about the capitol and what it meant.”

After this they sat in on a session of the house and watched a bill go through discussion. Jimmie Willis talked about how it was cool to see the way they did it “I never actually thought about how bills get passed in real life not just on paper.” The bills that they talked about were many bills to improve the state, however one got brought up to deal with the increasing risk of drug trafficking in the state. This bill was debated for a good amount of the session of congress and eventually was passed and sent to the senate.

After this lunch was served, and then everyone went back inside for a short Q&A with Ridgeline’s local representative Casey Snyder. Many questions were asked and many answers were given to each question which explained it in major detail.

In order to participate in this experience, the students of Ridgeline had to have no F’s in the class and at least a C, and have signed up for either having lunch or not. The trip is planned every year by Mr. Wing