The eighth grade class of Mackintosh Academy – Boulder was treated to a serendipitous tour of the U.S. Capitol Building on Thursday, March 3 while on their school trip to Washington, D.C.
Originally scheduled for a brief meet and greet with Colorado Representative Joe Neguse on the steps of the Capitol, the middle schoolers were able to enter the building with Neguse despite it being closed to the public during the pandemic. Amidst quizzical looks from security, students had the halls and rotunda to themselves.
As Neguse was escorting the class past the House Chamber, they crossed paths with Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, who was surprised and delighted to see a student group after nearly two years. Hoyer greeted them with handshakes and regaled them with an impromptu history lesson dating back to him meeting JFK.
In another stroke of luck, the group also ran into Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, who paused to speak to them on her way to sign a bill.
The eighth graders’ tour ended – or so they thought – with a meeting with the U.S. Senator from Colorado, Michael Bennet. Students asked his opinion on the situation in the Ukraine and inquired about measures to prevent environmental disasters like the Marshall Fire.
At the conclusion of the meeting, the group was unable to leave the building via the expected route due to security restrictions. In search of another way out, Bennet’s aide led them through areas not typically viewed by the public, including the underground Capitol subway system, until finally finding an exit.
Mackintosh students and teachers alike were thrilled with their unique experience, but the proverbial icing on the cake for the middle schoolers was discovering that their fortuitous encounters in the Capitol had been documented on Twitter by Congressman Neguse and POLITICO journalist Meredith Lee.
