Anonymous donor gives Village student trip to D.C. Anonymous donor gives Village student trip to D.C. (January 06, 2006)

Student couldn't of afford the $1,500 adventure

It's not every day Village High School gets a $1,500 donation, but that's exactly what happened after The Pleasanton Weekly ran an article in the Oct. 14, 2005 edition featuring the school's Close-Up trip to Washington, D.C. In October, Village held its annual "Close-Up" week to raise money to send two students on the trip. Students are chosen to receive the free trip by having their names picked in a raffle and this year Jessica Mannering and Cayla Nordeen were the lucky winners.

But after the names were drawn, teacher and Close-Up coordinator Ann Miller received a call from an anonymous donor who wanted to give a trip--worth $1,500--to a third student. When Miller asked what inspired such generosity, the donor said she had been touched by the Weekly's article and wanted to help.

With this new trip in hand, Miller discussed with the staff who the donation should go to, and they chose senior Alssa Kopinsky.

"I couldn't believe it when they told me," Kopinsky said. "I really wanted to go, but my parents couldn't afford to send me." Kopinsky was chosen because she had expressed enthusiastic interest in the program and was a solid Civics student, Miller said.

The delegation of 12 students was in the district from Nov. 27 to Dec. 3 and visited famous sites such as the monuments, Capitol Hill, Mount Vernon, the White House and Williamsburg, Va. During the trip, students learned about the government first hand while meeting students from Utah, Texas, Rhode Island, Michigan and Puerto Rico who were also part of the Close-Up trip.

"This particular group was the most prepared to go out of all I've taken," Miller said. This was her 22nd Close-Up trip. "They were willing to put themselves out there, give input on discussions, meet other kids and see and do as much as physically possible."

Junior Cayleigh Williamson said she not only had fun, but also learned a lot about government and history.

"I never thought you could learn that much in such a short period of time," she said. -Rebecca Guyon

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