GOAL high school students and staff had quite the adventure recently, taking an overnight field trip to the state capitol.

In the end, everyone had a thrilling experience, and as student Eden Connor of Craig put it, the trip was a “10 out of 10 — would (definitely) recommend.” 

The trip was part of the The GOAL Ventures experiential learning program, which includes trips in and out of the state of Colorado. Thirty-two students and 15 staff made the journey to explore the exciting world of government. They had a packed schedule with activities varying from working out their gaming skills at Dave and Busters to shaking hands with members of the senate.

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Students started out at the Capitol by meeting with a few representatives. They were able to ask questions and learn more about the representatives as human beings.

“These are actual people who want to go ahead and help our country and make it better. … Not just another person trying to dictate how my life is going,” one student said.

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The students then split up and went into the Senate and the House where they witnessed sessions and got to watch lawmakers pass some bills.

Next, students headed up to the Ralph L. Carr Colorado Judicial Center, where they went on a tour of the court of appeals and the Supreme Court, also visiting and exploring the judicial learning center.

Jacob Doyle of Parachute, who also served a year as a journalism intern at GOAL, “realized that it was actually a lot harder to be a judge than (he) thought it would (be) because of the nature of the cases.” 

One example he mentioned was an individual who held up a grocery store at knifepoint to feed his hungry family. That led to the question: How would you rule in this case?

Soon it was off to the vans to head home. Students from all over the state who days earlier were strangers departed as friends. The experience for these students was designed to show them how their state runs and introduce them to the people who run it.

For many of the students, the adventure opened their minds to future job opportunities and helped to encourage them to be active members of their community.

“Hopefully, we are inspiring some of our GOAL leaders to step up and serve in their community and (eventually) … be advocates for what they believe in,” Denver Region GOAL Principal Derek Staves said.