Lacey Township Teens Participate in Ronald Reagan-Themed Conference in Washington

Hailey Bendar and Zachary Howlett started their summer vacations this year with a trip to Washington D.C. for the Ronald Reagan-Close Up Youth Conference.

Bendar and Howlett, who will be seniors at this fall, were selected to represent New Jersey at the conference. Both are members of the high school’s Close Up club, which helps students become informed and engaged citizens.

“Zach and Hailey have helped a lot with club activities, such as voter registration and candidates’ night,” said Paul O’Sullivan, the club’s adviser and director of New Jersey Close Up. “They’re always available and are very good, conscientious students.”

During the weeklong conference in June, Bendar and Howlett visited the Lincoln, Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Korean War memorials and participated in programs at the National Press Club, the Russian Embassy and Capitol Hill.

Bendar is from a politically active family, who urged her to become part of the Close Up club. She learned a lot from her experience in Washington, she said.

“I learned that politics doesn’t have to be as cutthroat as it is,” said Bendar. “And, that Ronald Reagan was awesome.”

The youth conference was the result of a partnership between the Ronald Reagan Centennial Commission and the Close Up Foundation. This year, the 40th president of the United States would have turned 100. Conference themes centered around Reagan, and Bendar was able to meet Reagan administration Attorney General Edwin Meese.

“He talked about civility of the political climate and how we can help,” she said.

Howlett, who is a political cartoonist and helped start a Close Up newsletter at school, said the theme of the week was “civil discourse.” They saw both negative and positive examples of debate, he said.

“We watched a debate but the people remained civilized,” he said. “They attacked the issues not each other. Then we saw people who used personal attacks.”

They had the opportunity to hear from many politicians and journalists who told the students the only way our society can move forward is to educate young people that we must respect each other, even if we don’t agree, Howlett said. They said, often, we stop thinking of our political leaders as people.

“They said they’re not just cartoon characters — they’re just like everyone else,” he said. “Don’t get mad at them but at their position. When you show them respect, you’re more likely to be convincing if you stay away from personal attacks.”

Howlett came home with a box of jelly beans — Reagan’s favorite snack — and a Reagan Centennial commemorative coin for answering a trivia question that asked who Reagan was the spokesman for. Howlett responded correctly with General Electric.

Bendar also did well at trivia, winning a replica of the former president’s jelly bean jar filled with jelly beans for coming up with a little known fact about Reagan — he once got a $10 tip while serving as a lifeguard for finding someone’s dentures in a river.

Bendar and Howlett hope to get the chance to learn more about government next school year when Close Up club members are planning to go to Washington D.C. together for a national Close Up program.

“I do want to be politically informed and politically active in my life,” said Howlett.