NYM students travel to Washington, D.C., New York City as part of close-up trip

By Tucker Henderson

Reporter

The New York Mills High School Close Up group recently returned from the Nation’s Capitol and had a lot to say about their time in Washington D.C. and New York City.

“I’ve always wanted to see the Capitol,” said senior, Bode Roberts. “You see it on TV a lot. My mom did (Close Up) before and she said it was a really cool experience, so I wanted to do it.”

“I thought that it would probably be my only chance to go to Washington D.C. or New York,” said Libby Barvels, junior. “I really wanted to see the big city and experience it.”

“You spend your whole life hearing about all these important things in Washington D.C. and to have to opportunity to actually get up close and see those things is pretty once-in-a-lifetime,” said senior Sam Kopveiler. “Plus it was with Mr. Boe, so I kinda knew it was going to be fun no matter what you did.”

Some students were especially interested in the rich history that the District of Columbia has to offer.

“I was mostly interested in seeing all the landmarks and historical places that we’ve learned about in our class,” said Breanna Barvels, senior. “I was surprised by how many historical buildings are in Washington D.C. and just how busy New York is.”

“I was interested in Close Up because I wanted to learn more in depth about our history and not just reading it out of the textbook,” agreed Alexis Rudolph, senior, “just seeing all the monuments and seeing how powerful they are.”

“Definitely the experience of visiting all of these monuments in Washington D.C. with my classmates,” said junior Josie Honer. “It’s not something many people get to do.”

Among the surprises that two of the United State’s largest two cities have to offer were the immensity of New York City and the amount of historic sites packed in to Washington D.C.

“It’s really crazy how big New York City is,” said Roberts. “We were on the top of the Rockefeller Center the last night and it was crazy how big it was, it just went on and on and on with buildings, it was crazy. A little too big of a city for me.”

“The amount of people that were in New York late at night!” agreed Deserae Koljonen, junior. 

“I’m surprised that people in New York City can live there every single day,” said Kopveier. “Because there’s just so many people there, it’s pretty crazy that they don’t go nuts.”

“Yeah, I don’t think anybody really wants to go back to NYC,” said Jason Boe, advisor.

“No, but I can say I’ve been there though,” agreed Haley Korkowski, senior, explaining that it was one reason she wanted to go in the first place.

The group was also able to connect with students from across the country joining them for the Close Up experience.

“They got the opportunity to connect with students from different parts of the country that they normally wouldn’t get to connect with—Alaska, California, Montana, South Dakota, North Dakota—those are the states that we were connected with on the trip,” said Boe.

Another highlight of the trip was meeting with representatives including Minnesota Congresswoman Michelle Fischbach and U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith.

“That was really cool to meet them,” said Roberts. “Ask the people that are representing us in Congress questions.”

“I was surprised that we could actually talk to our representatives and ask them questions,” said Libby Barvels.

“I was surprised at how easy it is to actually schedule an appointment and go up and talk to your representatives,” said Korkowski.

A resounding “yes” was given by all students on whether they would recommend the trip to their underclassmen.

“I would definitely recommend that trip to everybody,” said Roberts. “It was an awesome experience, something I will definitely remember forever.”

“Yes, because you gain a deeper understanding of history and all the stuff that actually happened, you’re able to see it,” agreed Libby Barvels.

“Yeah,” said Breanna Barvels. “I would say for the experience and just a better understanding of the places and history of what you learn in class.”

“I would, yeah,” said Kopveiler. “It’s a kind of once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I myself, don’t really ever want to go back, but I’m glad I did go, because it was pretty amazing.”

“I would recommend this trip to my underclassmen,” Alexis Rudolph said. “If they are comfortable with talking to students from different states and wanting to learn more about their history.”

“I would,”  Korkowski agreed, “It’s a cool experience that a lot of people don’t get to see.”

“Definitely, even if they’re not as interested in history, it’s a great bonding experience with your upper classmates, I got closer with every single one of them,” said Honer.

Boe said that he and one other chaperone, Gene Barvels, lead the 11 students around Washington D.C. and New York City.

“Ninety-eight percent of the trip was great,” Boe laughed. “We could have been in the New York airport for quite some time. Our flight got delayed and we had a connecting flight, which messed up everything. It looked like we would have to stay in New York City for another night, without room or board, but fortunately, there were some good people that helped me out. It was a real good trip.”

Boe said that he has been on this trip four times and he has experienced the trip’s highlights before. Seeing the students light up at famous landmarks and widening their experiences with New York City’s skyline.

“My highlights are the students’ highlights, that makes me tick,” he said. “Seeing them come back and just overhearing what they have to say about it, that makes me happy. I’ve seen a lot of this before, but seeing their eyes and their wonderment and as a social studies teacher, you hope that they become a little more empathetic, compassionate, and open-minded and I think that this trip helps with those things.

“I think the biggest thing they took away is understanding that the world is much bigger than they thought it was,” he continued. “That there’s a whole bunch of people out there and just the scope and size of New York and Washington D.C. is just grand and amazing. And how fortunate they are to live where they live. One thing that I shared with them is the fact that I was so happy to come home,” he laughed. “You just appreciate where you come from. You see the hustle and bustle and also the poverty, you see the homelessness that’s in the periphery in both of those cities.”

Boe emphasized his gratitude to the school’s administration, the school board, and the local organizations for all of their help and financial support to make the trip possible. He said that without their contributions, the trip wouldn’t be able to happen every two years.

Students are already fundraising for the 2026 Close Up trip and those students who will be a junior or senior in 2026 are eligible to get involved and start raising funds for their trip.