Close Up Trip to Washington DC

[scrapgal123]

DD is a Senior this year and would like to attend the Close Up trip to Washington DC. The problem, of course, is the cost. While it seems to be a great experience, the cost of $1,600 is completely out of our budget. Also, since we live in South Florida and her trip will be in February, she will also need winter clothes. Anyone have any fundraiser ideas/tips that we can do?

 

[kpm76]

Can she babysit to earn the money? Around here, babysitters are paid about $10/hour....

 

[kimberlym322]

DD is a Senior this year and would like to attend the Close Up trip to Washington DC. The problem, of course, is the cost. While it seems to be a great experience, the cost of $1,600 is completely out of our budget. Also, since we live in South Florida and her trip will be in February, she will also need winter clothes. Anyone have any fundraiser ideas/tips that we can do?

Somethings that come to mind:

1. Does the price include all of the food for the trip? Is there any other things that over the 1600.00 she would have to pay for?

2. Is it her whole class going? If so is the school doing any fundraisers to help the kids?

3. Can't she ask for money/clothing for the trip for chirstmas from family members?


Some fundraiser ideas-money makers

1. She could find a part time job.

2. Maybe do a bake sale at your church, where she makes cakes and such and sells them after church.

3. Maybe do a auction at the church for some cakes and such.

4. I am sure that you have a weekly budget for food, maybe you could tell her if she clips coupons to save money on the food bill that the money that the coupons repersent you would give her for the trip. What I mean by that is say your budget is 150.00 a week, she clips coupons and you save 100.00 one week...then that 100.00 would go to her trip fund. If next week she only saves you 20.00 on the bill then that would go to her. It helps because she is getting you the deals so that she can earn the money to go on the trip.

Now if it is a class trip thing and there is a lot of people that need to raise money talk to the person in charge about the following.

1. Some kind of family fun night.

2. Getting things from area business's and hold an auction to raise money.

3. Hold a car wash.

4. Sell candy or something like that.

5. They could do a babysitting 4 hour lock in at the school for parents of younger kids to go christmas shopping or such.

6. They could sell gifts in a jar. They buy the stuff and fill the jars with the dry things to make like cookies or cakes and such.

7. Hold a bake sale at the school during lunch.

8. See if a local pizza place or something like that would hold a fundraiser night for the class. That any money over the cost of the food would go to the class trip and have the kids in there helping, cook, bus tables wait tables and so on.

9. See if local places will put a money jars in the store for people to drop spare change into them for the class.

10. They could do a scrapbooking event on a saturday at the school.

11. They could do candy cane messages. Have the kids pay like 50 cents to send a message to their friends with a candy cane on them. To get the candy canes you could see if like a doller tree will donate so many boxies to the class and some ribbion. A ream of paper is not that much either. They could also do it for Halloween and Thanksgiving. Just do them with lilipops. And the day of or the day before they get out of school they get delivered to the last class of the day.


That is all I can come up with tonight. Just getting up so my mind is not 100% yet. Good Luck and I hope you daughter gets to go.

 

[Cindy B]

1600 is a lot for one person, especially since many of the attractions in DC are no cost (The Smithsonians, The National Gallery of Art, the Monuments, Holocaust Museum, Ford Theater)

You can do so much cheaper than that on your own. We've driven down, gotten a priceline hotel for about $70, did all the monuments at no cost and gone home for way less than $500, let alone $1600 for one person.

 

[VAfamily1998]

1600 is a lot for one person, especially since many of the attractions in DC are no cost (The Smithsonians, The National Gallery of Art, the Monuments, Holocaust Museum, Ford Theater)

You can do so much cheaper than that on your own. We've driven down, gotten a priceline hotel for about $70, did all the monuments at no cost and gone home for way less than $500, let alone $1600 for one person.

I'm sure individuals/families can find better deals, but a large school group can't do things like priceline for a hotel, they have to charter busses, maybe pay for guides/chaperones, etc.

While the OP could certainly take her daughter on the trip for less than $1600/person, I think there is also a lot of value in teens getting to go on the trip with friends. Some of my favorite memories are from high school trips to different cities with my classmates/friends.

 

[ancestry]

I think $1,600 is a ridiculous price!

Our school district does a trip to Disney each year for middle school kids (7th and 8th grade). Maine is roughly about the same distance from DC as Florida is (depending on one's exact location in each state). Our price per child is usually around $400-$500, which causes parents around here to be up in arms.

If they said $1,600 there would be a revolt! As much as I am in support of my child traveling with or without me, I would not pay $1,600 for a trip to D.C.

As for the clothes - since they most likely would be a one time use can you visit thrift stores -- Goodwill, Salvation Army, etc.

As for fundraising - can you team up with the school or other parents to do group fundraising activities for multiple students? Car washes, hoagie sales, candy sales, raffles, etc.

 

[tink_lover]

I did the trip my senior year and remember writing letters requesting financial support to various businesses and organizations. If she can get a few places to give her $2-300, that would help offset the price.

 

[akcire]

1600 is a lot for one person, especially since many of the attractions in DC are no cost (The Smithsonians, The National Gallery of Art, the Monuments, Holocaust Museum, Ford Theater)

You can do so much cheaper than that on your own. We've driven down, gotten a priceline hotel for about $70, did all the monuments at no cost and gone home for way less than $500, let alone $1600 for one person.

$1600 is a deal for Close up. I only clicked on the link to see if the going rate these days. I can honestly say doing Close Up helped me learn to think for myself and also to have a greater understanding of the federal government and my role.

They schedule things that you would never be able to get access to as an individual. This is not a siteseeing trip. The places they take you are generally restriced, the year I attened we attended lectures held by senators, ambassadors, clandestine service officals, and the former seceretary of state. You are also in small group sessions with 8-10 people and have a facilitator that is at a minimum a college graduate. Many of the people have masters or extensive federal/foreign service work experience.

The hotels they book are major DC hotels during prime season and they book them during the weekdays too. So yes you can priceline for good deals, but not for the conference facilities they need.

OP- If your daughter is a senior, can she get a job? Holiday help at a retail store--she basically needs to earn $100 a week until February.

My daughter is only 6 months old, but if Close Up is still around when it is age appropriate, she will be going--I will find money in our budget even if I have to get a part-time job to cover the costs.

 

[scrapgal123]

The $1600 covers everything, including meals. It is a week long trip, so I think the price is about right, when you consider the flight, hotel, and meals. It is not co-ordinated by the school but by a tour company that does the Close Up trip. I told her to speak today to the teacher that is in charge of the trip to find out if the school will let them do fundraisers.

She already has a part time job in which she works about 10 hours a week. I think her working more hours will be too much for her between school work, attending tutoring for ACT prep and her volunteering at the hospital. She uses the $ from her part time job to help pay for her car and insurance.

I may look around the house for stuff to put on Ebay. I was also thinking of contacting family members and offering to help clean out junk they no longer wanted and do a garage sale. I am trying to think of creative ideas that would not entail me putting out too much out of pocket.

 

[fakereadhed]

When my daughter went in 8th grade, they allowed payment plans. I remember feeling like the price was too high and resenting the budget squeeze at the time. However, it was well worth it. DD is 18 and still talks about what she learned there.

 

[beavismom]

Aluminum recycling - ask all your friends and family to save their cans for her. She can also approach businesses to see if they will let her collect in their breakrooms, etc. A friends daughter paid for a good bit of her People to People trip like this. Also, cleaning out her room and taking old clothes to a resale shop or selling old video games, build a bear stuff, etc. on Craigslist.

 

[AWilliams]

I went to DC with the Close Up program when I was in High School (20 years ago!) and I still remember it. I'm pretty sure my school provided full scholarships - only two students were chosen to go each year. You might look into that or possibly some business or political group in your area might be willing to help. Maybe even contact your congressional offices to ask them. We visited our specific congresspeople while we were there.

 

[mdsoccermom]

I remember all the Close Up kids when I was in government relations. Whenever I went to a congressional hearing, there would be groups of them. Without fail, they would sit there about 10 minutes and get up and leave. I had to wonder what they were getting out of it if they were just spending a few minutes there.

 

[KKB]

My son went 2 years ago with them & our daughter will go this spring, as 8th graders.
The reason for the expense is that it is run by the Close up foundation. They will have tour guides & chaperones in addition to their teachers. There will be security in the hallways at the hotel to ensure the children's safety (and minimize their stupidity). They will have chartered tour buses taking them everywhere. They stay at nicer hotels..Marriotts, etc.All expenses are covered.
Ours is nearly $1700 for 5 days (higher air from our midwestern city)
And while many exhibits are free, many excellent ones are pricey. And lodging in DC is horrid. I have priced it for our family of 5, and while we could do it for a bit less, remarkably not much.
We have wanted to take a family DC trip--I chaperoned a People to People trip a few years ago & my favs were the Spy Museum, the NewsMuseum & the Holocaust Museum, in addition to Williamsburg.

 

[jsmith]

both of my sons went as high school sophomores-i think the cost then was around 1400 for the week from Denver. It was a great experience and they both are still in touch with friends they made. They learned alot and got insights to the goverment they never would have had. One of them was actually in DC during a state visit from Queen Elizabeth and saw alot of the security for that as well
Both of my sons had scholarships and both sets of grandparents contributed to the cost as their Christmas gift that year and the kids were totally happy about that. Its totally a worth while program and 1600 is not excessive as far as the cost goes, for what you get in return.

 

[yrdlyprincess]

DD girls scout troop is going to do that next yr (in June...she is 11 yrs old) still not sure how I feel about letting her go there, without us, and well you know.

But anyhow....Girl Scouts have many "restricts" on things that they can do.

But if your daughter is going through school...they could sell hoagies, they could do a few car washes (especially in FL)

I know I have seem some really good ideas on here
'GOOD LUCK!!!

 

[LynneyPooh]

We take our 8th graders each year. Though its not a close up trip, and we're from SC, the trip is about $500 for 4 days, 2 of which are travel on chartered buses. Note that tours start as soon as we arrive in Va, and continue even on the way home. That said we have offered the following fundraisers for the kids:

1) Candle Sales - they did ok
2) Krispy Kreme - easy, peasy and a couple of kids paid almost all of their trip. Good profit on these. (Our best one actually).
3) T-shirts sales for Homecoming. Kids sell them to friends, family etc. The student gets the profits from these.
Also a t-shirt stand is set up in the hall and at the game. The profits from these sells are split between all the kids going on the trip. The past two years they've made $4 or $5 per t-shirt sold. We do pretty good with this one- Pre-orders are important, and not ordering too many extra, but a few in each size. Some of the kids made their deposit with this one.
4) Coupons books. Not to bad- but more hassle with this one.

Just a few ideas, good luck! I remember doing candy bar, magazine and fruit sales when in high school for my trips. Also they "paid" us (put $x on our account) for things such as putting on a halloween carnaval, and as juniors to be on the prom committee.