Aldridge students enjoyed a taste of US political and economic life after securing once-in-a-lifetime visits to America thanks to the US Embassy.
Three pupils from Aldridge School were among only 14 other students from the UK selected for the two-week trips visiting New York and Boston and Washington and Ohio.
Pictured l-r are Madeleine Turner, Ben Pickering and Alice Rhind-Tutt
Year 11 students Madeleine Turner and Ben Pickering recently returned from their trip studying business and economics while Alice Rhind-Tutt returned on Sunday (Sep 9-) from the US election trail.
For 15-year-old Alice the visit included listening to Michelle Obama and Chelsea Clinton’s campaign speeches for the Democrats as well as joining Republicans on their political trail in Ohio.
The trip for Madeleine and Ben took them to meet business people ranging from successful Vermont farmers to staff at the famous Ben and Jerry’s ice cream factory as well as a trip to Harvard University.
Alice, who wants to study politics at A Level, said: “It was an incredible experience I saw Michelle Obama speak and listened to the views of Republicans. American politics are very complex and it was fascinating to see it at first hand.”
Ben added: “We had an amazing time visiting places we normally would not get to see and meeting all kinds of business people. We also got to visit New York and see all the famous sights.”
Headteacher David Mountney said the school was one of a very few in the country invited to nominate students for the trips funded by the US Embassy and organised by American exchange programmes.
He said: “The students had to travel to the embassy in London earlier this year to undergo a rigorous selection process. Only eight students per trip were selected from 60 candidates so we did very well to have three of our young people selected.
“It really was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for them and we are very proud of Madeleine, Ben and Alice for getting through the tough selection process and for representing their school Stateside.”