Each fall, Fairport High School (FHS) students have a rare opportunity to work with government leaders in Washington, D.C. to discuss topics and issues they research as part of a social studies elective course, Senior Leadership Seminar.

The course begins in the summer and requires student groups to begin researching a topic currently facing the nation. Once the school year begins, the students contact members of the U.S. government who are involved in the topic. Students arrange to meet with the government members as part of a field study locally or in Washington, D.C. when they go on the Leadership Trip to Washington, D.C. in September.

Topics include climate change, transnational organized crime, ISIS, U.S. trade policy, Mexican drug cartels, nuclear proliferation, entitlement reform, immigration, infectious disease, U.S. China policy, and mass shootings.

“These students researched topics over the summer and when school started in September, they only had 13 school days to prepare for the Leadership Trip to D.C.,” said FHS Social Studies Teacher Mike Mallaber.

Since the trip in September, students have been presenting to other students, including middle school students at Martha Brown Middle School.

Students are currently preparing for the Parent Night Program on Nov. 14 at the Fairport High School auditorium at 7:30 p.m. Students will present their projects in various FHS classroom beginning at 7:45 p.m. for approximately one hour to provide parents and community members with an overview of their chosen topic, who they met with and what they learned during their meetings with the various government officials and their proposed solution to their topic.

Student Justin Ball, who researched the issue of ISIS, told middle school students that they “were able to interact with members of the FBI, and they’re good people because they monitor people and track them down.”

The rare opportunity students had to meet with government officials now offers them the opportunity to showcase their research.

Sydney Buckman, who researched the issue of ISIS, met with a representative of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon to discuss military usage, said “They [government leaders] treated us like equals so that was really nice.”

Among the positive feedback from government leaders, Senior Advisor for Policy Joseph Laroski Jr., from the Office of the Under Secretary for International Trade at the International Trade Admission, thanked Mallaber for visiting D.C.

“I very much appreciate the level of preparation and research evidenced by their questions and their engagement with the subject matter,” he said.