Citizenship Washington Focus group is a weeklong trip for teens

Contributed photo
Todd and Teigan Bjerke met with US Representative Michelle Fischbach during a Citizensship Washington Focus trip to Washington, DC in June. Teigan recently graduated from Henning High School and Todd is a junior at Henning.

By Mary Lewis

Lakes Country Connection

Teigan and Todd Bjerke of Lake Park had the opportunity to attend Citizenship Washington Focus in June. For more than 50 years, thousands of high school youth from all across the country have traveled to Washington, DC each summer to partake in the 4-H citizenship experience – Citizenship Washington Focus (CWF). CWF is a national program designed for 4-H members and teen leaders ages 14-19. Sessions are offered throughout the weeklong program held throughout June and July each year. CWF provides youth with opportunities to:

• Explore, develop, and refine the civic engagement skills they need to be outstanding leaders in their community, country, and world.

• Engage in sightseeing tours throughout Washington, D.C., led by college-aged program assistants.

• Learn the history of our nation and how leadership and citizenship skills can be applied in local community.

Both boys have been Franklin 4-H Club members from a young age.  For them, 4-H has been a family based activity with the expectation of each helping the other brothers out with various projects especially the animals they have shown over the years. Teigan and Todd are number 3 and 4 in this family of 5 boys. Attending this event however was something new for both of them. This was a first trip away without their parents; which pushed each of them into unfamiliar situations that were full of learning opportunities. Elliott Lawrence, the Becker County 4-H educator, did serve as a chaperone for this trip.  The CWF experience keeps the youth busy from morning to night to fit in all the program’s busy schedule. The youth attend workshops on improving leadership, public speaking and learning about the process of government.

They were able to visit a number of the historical monuments in the area.  Arlington National Cemetery left a lasting impression with its size, the amount of graves and the changing of the guard. Teigan was impressed by the Lincoln Memorial and enjoyed reading the inscriptions.  Todd reported his favorite was the Thomas Jefferson Memorial; both agreed that the 911 Memorial was an impactful monument to visit. Neither could find the right word to describe how they felt when viewing it.

  Teigan is a recent high school graduate and will be attending NDSU this fall planning to major in Accounting. Todd still has two years of high school to complete. Both report that this trip has made them more aware of the importance of leadership and working together to achieve a better outcome. In addition to the lessons learned and fun experienced; one repeated theme became apparent that impacted their CWF experience; the importance of history and what we all take for granted. Our founding fathers would have agreed with you.