Team Visits with Congressional Representatives

Teams attending the 2008 Science Olympiad National Tournament are encouraged to take full advantage of the trip to Washington, DC by requesting visits with the Members of Congress who represent their home districts. Not only does a visit with a Member of Congress or their staff and a tour of the United States Capitol provide an outstanding educational opportunity, but it also serves to reinforce the importance of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education and the valuable role that Science Olympiad plays in supporting these curricular components.

GW has sent “FYI” letters to all Members of Congress with Science Olympiad in their home states in order to inform these Members that the 2008 National Tournament is being held in Washington, DC and that teams may be requesting visits. In order to formally request a visit, it is necessary for teams to contact the Washington, DC offices of the Senators and or Representatives for their home districts. Follow these steps to make your request:

1. Visit the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives Web sites to locate the contact information (name, mailing address, phone and fax numbers, and e-mail address) for those Members you wish to visit.
2. Download and save to your computer the Visit Request Template Letter, which is available as a Word document.
3. Replace the fields highlighted in yellow in the Visit Request Template Letter with the contact information for those Members you wish to visit as well as with information pertinent to your team (note: Thursday, May 29 is the suggested date for visits with Congressional representatives, but other dates are also acceptable depending upon your travel plans).
4. Print the completed letters on school letterhead (if possible) and sign them.
5. Fax the signed letters to the offices of the Members you wish to visit (note: it is strongly recommend that you fax your letters, as due to security procedures, mail sent through the United States Post Office make take several weeks to reach the office).
6. After allowing a few days for your letters to be received and reviewed, contact the Members’ offices by phone or e-mail to confirm receipt and to schedule your visit. (note: as the Science Olympiad National Tournament occurs during a Congressional recess, Members may not be in Washington, DC at that time; however, staff members are still available during the recess and should be able to welcome your group to the office and/or provide a Capitol tour).

Please note that while specific transportation will not be provided between GW's campuses and Capitol Hill, the United States Capitol and the House and Senate Office Buildings are easily accessible by Metrorail via the Union Station stop on the Red Line and the Capitol South stop on the Blue and Orange lines. Please consult with the Members' office(s) that you will be visiting for recommendations on which stop is best to use for their location(s). Please visit the Traveling section of this site for information on how to reach GW's Foggy Bottom Campus by Metrorail.

Once your visits are scheduled, e-mail nso2008@gwu.edu with the details (date, time, and location of visit) so that it is known when teams will be visiting Capitol Hill. Good luck!