Hiawatha High School student travels to Washington, D.C. with JAG-K
Hiawatha World, Dec. 15, 2023 – click to read original article
Hiawatha High School student Hayden Brown traveled to Washington, D.C. with Jobs for America’s Graduates- Kansas (JAG-K). Brown was able to achieve this accomplishment because of his position in the leadership team of JAG-K.
After earning the position of local president, Brown earned his position of regional vice president in JAG-K. He was one of seven Kansas students that were able to go, the others being the vice presidents and presidents of their respective regional chapters. With this honor, he experienced “a once in a lifetime opportunity that changed the way I look at life and cities.”
Washington D.C. is a prestigious place within the United States. As the nation’s capital, it is a hotspot of visitors and conferences alike. Every year, JAG-K and a plethora of additional JAG chapters throughout the United States meet at a conference in the nation’s capital city. Between November 28 and December 3, Brown traveled with JAG-K president Chuck Knapp, JAG-K vice president Beverly Mortimer, and the remaining Kansas leadership team to Washington D.C. In addition to Kansas, 38 other states were invited to the national JAG conference.
JAG-K is an organization that helps prepare students for life after high school. Brown’s convention with JAG strived to teach the students how leadership can play major roles within people’s life and environments. Multiple leadership activities, as well as teamwork activities were done to show how teamwork can help students achieve their goals faster.
Brown claims that, “JAG-K has helped me grow to be a better person who does not allow people to knock me down. I am an aspiring filmmaker who is endlessly ambitious and determined, so I don’t allow people to try to tell me that I can’t do something, because with the help of JAG-K, I know now that anything is possible with ambition, hard work, determination, and being a good leader.”
While Brown did get to tour multiple historical sites, monuments, and memorials, he claims that the best part was experiencing a “moment that will stick with me for years” when he was in the capital when New York representative George Santos was expelled.
Brown stated that, “this was one of the craziest moments I have experienced. Events like this have happened ten times in our nation’s history, and I am surprised that I was able to be in the capitol and experience the aftermath of the event.”
In addition to being at a rare historical moment, Brown was also able to meet and talk with Kansas representatives Jake LaTurner, Tracey Mann, Sharice Davids and Ron Estes, as well as Susan Estes. Susan Estes also took the JAG-K group on tours of the United States Capitol and the Library of Congress.
In addition to the “surprising” events, Brown also claims that the museums were astonishing. Brown proclaims that, “the Holocaust Memorial Museum is an important aspect to visiting Washington D.C. Its depth and density is essential to anyone that wants to visit an astonishing museum.” Brown’s praise for the Holocaust Memorial Museum continued as he also claimed, “this is the most respected museum I have ever been to. People all around were genuinely reading and comprehending the facts present within the museum. It may take a long time to get through the museum and a heavy feeling may come over you that feels like it’s weighing you down, but it is completely worth every second of it.”
Brown’s story of a JAG-K trip to Washington D.C. is one to look up to because anyone at Hiawatha High School could do it. Anyone from Kansas could do it.
Brown said that, “If I get the chance to go to the nation’s capitol with JAG-K, I believe that anyone can do it. Yes, I did earn the positions needed to get there, but I also believe that anyone that has the drive to get to where I did, can do it and could rank even higher with the ambition to get there.”