From Pumpkin Capital to nation’s capital

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20220621_180704

2019 Floydada High School graduate Allison Orr stands outside the Eisenhower Executive Office Building at 17th & Pennsylvania near the White House in Washington, D.C. (Ryan Crowe/FCR)

WASHINGTON – Nearly two dozen Floydada residents will have traveled to Washington, D.C. by the time the summer of 2022 is in the books.

They will travel as tourists, educators, journalists, advocates and students. All will have different experiences and all will bring back a deeper understanding of how our nation operates, or at least how chaotic our government can be.

Allison Orr is spending the most time in Washington this summer. An Agriculture Economics student at Texas A&M, Orr is interning for the A&M system’s federal relations office roughly one block east of the White House. It’s an experience the 2019 Floydada High School graduate once only dreamed about. “I knew in high school that a lot of people came to D.C. to intern in ag, but I didn’t know the steps to get here. I’m really glad that I have gotten to do this because their is no better experience than getting in there rather than just learning about things in the classroom.”

Orr spends her time working as a liaison between the system’s 10 universities and schools, as well as AgriLife, and Texas’ two senators and 36 representatives. She says she could see herself returning to the district once she graduates. “I’m still trying to narrow in on what my policy interest are – in the office I’m in I kind of get a hand in all of it. If I get that figured out, I would like to come back and pursue that full time.”

Having never been to Washington before her internship, Orr says her biggest surprise is how driven the city can seem. “Everyone is always in a rush. It’s very different from Texas. Work, work, work all the time. Everyone here is working really hard, and everyone is trying to climb the ladder.”

But she says her favorite thing has been exploring the history and the capital region “Just to see what things are like up here as opposed to Texas.”

Floydada students who signed up for a March 2020 trip to Washington were finally able to travel to the city in May, 2022 (Natalie Snowden/Used with Permission)

A number of current Whirlwinds have also made trips to Washington this year, with ten students who were originally going as 6th graders during spring break 2020 finally getting their chance to see the city. Former teacher and current AgriLife agent Natalie Snowden and FCISD Technology/Federal Programs manager Kim Cuellar accompanied the soon-to-be high school students in late May on tours of the monuments and memorials.

Floydada’s Sierra Snowden (left) and Sierra Snowden and Sarah Lindley at the White House in June, 2022. (Lighthouse Electric Cooperative photo)

High school junior Sierra Snowden traveled to Washington by way of Austin as part of Lighthouse Electric Cooperative’s Youth Tour. Snowden and Memphis student Sarah Lindley were awarded the trip in February after winning Lighthouse’s speech contest.

MORE: Snowden, Lindley win Lighthouse youth tour speech contest

Ava Gonzales and Pam Ricketts at the U.S. Capitol during the 2022 Educators Rising conference in Washington, D.C. (Courtesy photo)

Sophomores Ava Gonzales and Mia Snowden were in the city for the Educators Rising Conference after Gonzales won the public speaking competition at the Texas Association of Future Educators conference in April. The girls were accompanied on the trip by TAFE sponsor Pam Ricketts and FCHS Principal Dara Ware.

MORE: Ava Gonzales Qualifies for National Future Educators Competition

Superintendent Gilbert Trevino, along with FCISD Dean of Academics Shauna Lane and Duncan Elementary Principal Monica Smith are completing the Whirlwind crew in D.C., attending a separate educational conference this week.

A nametag for the 2022 National Hemophilia Foundation State Based Advocacy Coalition. (Ryan Crowe/FCR)

Not every Floydada resident who goes to Washington is there connected to the school. I traveled to the city on behalf of the National Hemophilia Foundation for their advanced advocacy coalition. Hemophilia, a rare genetic bleeding disorder where blood does not properly clot, impacts about 33,000 people in the United States. I’ve been working with both state and national hemophilia groups on health care policy since 2005, and has traveled to Washington on a number of occasions. The work is exhausting, but getting that chance to meet one-on-one with staffers and policy makers, as well as the occasional lawmaker, makes the trip rewarding, especially when we see a clear path to patient protection to some of the most venerable Americans.

Tony St. James interviewing Indiana Rep. Jim Baird, a member of the House Ag Committee, in his Washington, D.C. office.

That one-on-one time is what drives Tony St. James as well.  St. James, owner of 900 AM All Ag, All Day (and the Floyd County Record), travels to Washington twice each year, with his next trip in July.  “It’s building that face to face relationship – to the point that members of the House Ag Committee see me and know me. I’m not there to lobby, but I am there for them to talk about the issues that they think are important to their constituents.”

St. James says he goes because there is so much more to be gathered in sitting across from a member of congress than there is in doing a phone interview. “All I’m trying to do is to provide facts. too often interviewers go for debate instead of just asking questions. some of the best interviews I’ve had have been with people that I don’t agree with. But once you take down that barrier, you can see their genuine concern on issues.”

And when asked about his favorite thing about Washington, he said it was the people. “They’re from all walks of life. You take the people out of D.C., it’s a huge museum. You put the people into D.C. and that’s what makes it really really special.”

If you know anyone else going to Washington from Floyd County this summer, email us at editor@floydcountyrecord.com.

 

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