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By Phil Goble Jr. -- Surry Messenger

Text books teach how the United States government works.  They tell about how an idea becomes a bill and how that bill becomes law.  It’s all pretty clean and easy if you look at the flow chart.

For the last three years, Congresswoman Virginia Foxx, who represents Surry County, has opened the door so local teachers can see just how the process actually works.

“I thought it would be neat just to see what it was really like, what was the life of a Congressman like,” Eric Jessup, a teacher at North Surry, said this summer after returning from D.C. “It was busy. She was a very busy person. They were either voting, debates on the floor or committee meetings. It’s amazing what they do.”

During his tour from July 17-24, Jessup was able to sit in on House votes, attend two sessions of the Rules Committee that includes Foxx, visit the Library of Congress and National Archives to learn about research and visit the Page school, where students who are acting as Congressional Pages are taught.

“Just the pace they go at is what floored me,” Jessup said. “The pace she sets is wide open. I think she’s only got one speed — wide open.”

Jessup joined Ralph Nesbit from Forsyth Country Day, in the third summer installment of the program.

“I speak in a lot of classrooms every year and it occurred to me that it would be neat if teachers who asked me to come and talk about my job could some and see what I do,” Foxx said. “They mostly say they didn’t realize the pace of things in Washington. I think they also are amazed at how long the days are. There’s not much sitting around.”

Foxx’s typical workday starts at 7:30 a.m. and ends about 1 a.m. She averages about six miles of walking per day.

“He (Jessup) was very interested in everything we were doing,” Foxx said. “We had a tough time getting him into the Rules Committee meetings because the meeting kept changing.”
Initially, the program ran for two weeks with two teachers. This year, Foxx still invited two teachers, but the time in D.C. was shortened to 11 days.

“We pay for this out of our budget,” Foxx said. “We don’t have any special money for it. We give them a stipend. We come up with enough money to pay for all their expenses.”

The Teacher in Congress program is open to all teachers in Foxx’s district.

“It’s open to anybody, but we believe it has more relevance to those teaching history and government,” Foxx said.

And it is worth the trip.

“I think it’s awesome,” North Surry Principal Bill Goins said. “It’s awesome what he can bring back from his time in Washington. I’d like to do it as a principal. Anybody who can should take advantage of it.”
Jessup agreed.

“I would encourage anybody thinking about the program to go for it,” he said. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see how it really operates.”

Foxx’s staff will start taking applications for the 2010 session around February or March.

“We do try and give teachers a lot of heads up,” Foxx said.