BY JANE WIESENBERG

On Jan. 8, 64 MHS seniors enrolled in AP U.S. Government and Politics traveled to Manchester, NH in order to get a first-hand look at the presidential primary process. Joe Liberti, who teaches the class, came up with the idea for the trip last year and spent months planning and organizing the unique three-day experience.

Students split up into groups to volunteer for the Newt Gingrich, Jon Huntsman, Ron Paul and Mitt Romney campaigns. They delved right into the campaigning process by reaching out to voters through phone banks, and many also braved the cold to wave signs for their candidates in central Manchester. Still, others went door to door to voice enthusiasm for their candidate, and to invite locals to meet and greets.

Many of the students also had the opportunity to meet the candidates they chose to work for. The students on the Gingrich campaign saw him speak at a town hall meeting and afterwards waited in line to shake his hand and take photos with him. These students also had the chance to attend a press conference held by the former speaker of the house.

At the end of the press conference, Liberti, taking on the role of a journalist, told Gingrich about the trip he had organized, and asked the former speaker why he thought it was important for students to be involved in politics. Gingrich spoke about the enormous stake that young people have in this election, and also noted that he was very impressed by the students’ efforts in crossing party lines. He even asked to take a picture with the group after the conference.

Ilana Gratch ’12, was then able to ask Gingrich directly about how he would reform President Obama’s “Race to the Top” education program. Gingrich responded that he envisions lessening the federal government’s role regarding education, and instead, favors giving more power to states and local school districts.

Students campaigning for Huntsman, along with some others from the Romney campaign, attended a Huntsman rally in New Hampshire’s state capital, Concord. Some students shook his hand, and Gracie Goodman ’12 even spoke to him in Mandarin, which he is fluent in. This group also took a short break from campaigning to visit the New Hampshire State House, which is where candidates must register for the primary and where the state government meets. There, they had the opportunity to meet David Scanlan, New Hampshire’s deputy secretary of state.

A final group of students who were part of the Ron Paul campaign attended a town hall meeting held by the congressman. Some students were also able to eat breakfast with, question, and talk directly to the congressman later in the trip, including longtime supporter Michael Comerford ‘12.

Video Teacher Emily Dombroff led another group of students who, instead of volunteering for campaigns, chose to be part of the “Media Team.” These students followed many of the different campaigns so that they could film, interview and take pictures of their fellow classmates at work. Ultimately, they plan to use the footage to create a documentary of the trip to be shared with the families of the participants and other community members.

Aside from the campaigns, all students had the opportunity to learn from experts in the political world. They all heard Newt Gingrich’s director of field operations in New Hampshire speak and were also able to participate in a question and answer session with him.

Everyone also attended a panel sponsored by POLITICO, where they heard interviews and were involved in another question and answer session with Former New Hampshire Governor John Sununu, Gubernatorial Candidate Ovide Lamontagne, and famous journalists and reporters Dan Balz, Candy Crowley, Jonathan Karl, Dan Rather and Chuck Todd.

There was an opportunity to ask questions of the political experts after they spoke. Liberti was glad to see that many MHS students asked questions of the panel members and received direct responses, including Susannah Scheffler ‘12, who directed her question about the primary process to Crowley.

On Election Day, students went to the busiest polling locations in the state, where they campaigned for their respective candidates and even got to meet and shake hands with many of the candidates who came to the polling places, specifically Gingrich, Huntsman and Romney.

Both local (in NH and NY) and national media stations picked up on the trip, as the presence of so many students from out of state at the primary is unusual. Students were constantly being interviewed and appeared in many news sources, including New York CBS News, The New York Times, National Public Radio, CBS 880 Radio, Forbes Magazine and many more.

Liberti views the trip as a big success and is glad about how much his students learned from the experience. “I wanted [the students] to gain an appreciation for retail politics that are unique to the New Hampshire primary and have an authentic learning experience regarding grassroots politics,” Liberti said. He was also continually impressed by “seeing students rise to the occasion in their participation in question and answer sessions and in handling the press.”

Nicole Strausser ’12, who was able to see many of the candidates as part of the media team, said, “I was impressed by the power of seeing politicians in person. I found that I could connect most with the candidates who made an effort to reach out to us, by shaking our hands and thanking us for volunteering.”

After such a meaningful experience, Liberti is already planning another trip for the next presidential primaries in 2016. Ultimately, the trip, he says, was a huge success, and he proudly describes it as “transformative” for most of his students.