Field trip lets students meet presidential hopefuls

On Friday, a small group from Cleves met Hillary Clinton, Marco Rubio and Rick Santorum. By Tuesday, they hope to knock Ben Carson, Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and Bernie Sanders off their list as well.

This isn't a group of lobbyists or CEOs. This isn't a political action committee. This is a group of field trippers.

The seniors from Taylor High School's advanced placement government class traveled to Iowa on Friday to see the caucus season up close.

"It's a great for the kids to see a variety of candidates because so many kids are influenced by their parents with regards to political parties," teacher Kevin Murphy told The Enquirer as he helped lead the group of 28 students around Iowa by bus. "I think it's nice for them to hear what the other side is saying."

The Three Rivers School District may be small, with fewer than 3,000 students in kindergarten through 12th grade, but administrators have a knack for organizing epic field trips.

Students have attended the Iowa caucuses and witnessed presidential politics since 2008. When the White House isn't up for grabs, the Yellow Jackets went to Gettysburg, Colonial Williamsburg and other East Coast destinations. Many of these trips include juniors and seniors at the high school.

Unfortunately, this year's trip to Iowa was limited to seniors, but Murphy said juniors get a consolation prize. As seniors next year, they'll be attending the presidential inauguration in Washington D.C.

For now, the students are spending a lot of time on a bus hopping around to schools, universities, businesses and hotels all over Iowa.

"We're letting them see the whole caucus experience and getting to see as many different candidates as possible," Murphy said. "Until you really see it, you don't understand it."

Along with a crowd of about 200 people, the group saw Hillary Clinton speak Friday. Right down the street, they caught up with Marco Rubio.

Their evening was capped off when they happened across Rick Santorum in a small restaurant.

Murphy said they haven't seen any other student groups in their travels. This field trip could be one of a kind. While other student activities are meticulously planned, the constantly shifting schedules of the candidates throws any agenda out the window.

"We've got to sit here on our campaign tracker and figure out where those places are and can we get there in time," Murphy said. He explained some of the venues could be clear across the state from each other.

Murphy said watching the demeanor of the candidates change when facing a large group of teens is exciting. He said they all seem to let their guard down and become more friendly.

Caitlin Rudisell, the advanced placement government teacher at Taylor High School, worked hard to prepare her students for what they might experience in Iowa. For many of the students, November's election will be their first opportunity to vote.

Nicole Faulkner is one of those new voters. The 18-year-old daughter of immigrants from Panama said the biggest highlight of the trip so far has been meeting Marco Rubio.

"Meeting him, having a Hispanic candidate, it meant a lot to me," Faulkner said. "I was able to go up to him, shake his hand and talk about how my mom is an immigrant, and actually speak some Spanish to him. It was really nice because we got a little one-on-one time, then a picture."

She said that while she had political leanings before traveling to Iowa, she is trying to keep an open mind and focus on learning more about the political process, not just the candidates.

"I think I also learned a lot more about how speech is so important to candidates," she said. "I was surprised at how influential and how much I loved what Hillary was saying. There's a lot of ideas I don't agree with her on, but I liked how much she brought to it. She's such a good political speaker. Everyone in there was on their feet, clapping at everything she said. She knows how to speak to people."

When not witnessing politics firsthand, the students are spending a lot of time discussing it.

"It always gets a little snippy when people disagree on things, but we've had really good discussions," Faulkner said.

But it's not all business for the students: between the travel and flexible schedule, they are getting some down time.

"We just get on a bus and they tell us where we're going to go," she said. "Actually, we watched all four Shrek movies."

The group plans to return to Ohio on Tuesday, but if some plans come together, not before viewing the actual caucuses.

Murphy said one of Clinton's aides is trying to set the students up in an observation room at the event Monday.