Ever since fifth grade, I’ve waited for my chance to attend Capitol Hill and lobby members of Congress with the Saint John the Evangelist eighth graders. During Catholic Schools Week, I finally got my chance. It was everything I’d hoped for, except for the fact it was so cold. We started the day with a meeting with the other school groups to be reminded of the points to make when speaking to the congressional representative or his or her staff member. After a quick group photo, the groups went to their assigned offices to speak to the congress people or staff members. When I went into the first meeting, I was nervous, but after the meeting I felt it went well. The issues were: reauthorization of the E-rate program, No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), Higher Education For Teachers Act, and the DC Scholarship program.

The E-rate program has helped St. John’s by providing a certain sum to pay for phone bills and Internet connections. NCLB helps pay for library books. The Higher Education For Teachers Act would provide a tax credit to teachers who took a class and had to pay out of their own pocket. While the DC Scholarship program provides tuition assistance for private school students in the District, St. John’s doesn’t benefit from this program, other area Catholic schools do.

Hopefully, we made St. John the Evangelist School a better place because we were on Capitol Hill that day.