How do you describe a day at SPS in which you:
- Meet with Al Jazeera's Washington Bureau Chief;
- Have a private Q&A session with a U.S. Senator;
- Get a chance to learn about the effort to counter Weapons of Mass Destruction from the White House's top expert in the field; and
- Have the President himself wave at you from a motorcade?
We could say this was just another day at SPS -- yawn, if it's Thursday, the President must be waving at us -- but no, this was a memorable day even in a session filled with remarkable experiences.
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| Al Jazeera's Washington Bureau Chief, Mr. Abderrahim Foukara |
We started the morning with a visit to St. Albans from Mr. Abderrahim Foukara, Washington Bureau Chief for the Al Jazeera network. Mr. Foukara spoke to the group and fielded a multitude of questions ranging from the situations in Syria and Egypt to special challenges that Al Jazeera faces in news gathering.
After a great session with Mr. Foukara, it was off to Capitol Hill for a private meeting and Q&A session with U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island. (
Click HERE for a biography of Senator Whitehouse.) Senator Whitehouse gave the group a bit of a primer on some of the lesser known aspects of legislative procedure and then candidly and thoughtfully responded to the excellent questions posted by the St. Albans School of Public Service class of 2013. (See photos below of SPS 2013 in the Senate Hearing Room)
After a morning spent hearing first from the Fourth Estate and then from the Legislative Branch, let's be honest, SPS 2013 had worked up an appetite! We stopped for lunch at the Restaurant in the Capitol Visitors Center, and then enjoyed seeing some of the state statues on display (see photo below).
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| From left: Will M., Rachel, Sarah K, Peter, Grady, Will R., Jimmy, Maddy, and Stephanie (the tall fellow with the gold helmet is King Kamehameha of Hawaii) |
Mid-afternoon, we bid farewell to the Legislative Branch and headed over to the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, which adjoins the White House, to hear from a representative of the Executive Branch. Again, we were privileged to hear from an inspiring speaker -- Dr. Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall, the White House Coordinator for Defense Policy, Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction, and Arms Control -- who was also willing to field the (uniformly excellent) questions of the St. Albans School of Public Service class of 2013. Dr. Sherwood-Randall wowed the group on substance even
before she gave the group parting gifts of official White House M&Ms and photos of the President.
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| SPS 2013 with Dr. Sherwood-Randall |
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| Jamila, Sonia, Maddy and Sarah K. sporting their coveted visitors' badges |
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| You'd swear they belonged in the building and weren't just visiting! (Will M., Kevin, and Jimmy) |
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| Rocking the souvenir White House M&Ms! (Nik and Kyung) |
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| Got our official Presidential photos in hand! |
And last but not least . . . President Obama waved to us! On our way back to meet the St. Albans bus, we had to detour because of a motorcade, but it was not just any motorcade. As the Presidential limousine passed by, the Commander in Chief leaned over and waved to our very excited group.
So. Good day.
