WASHINGTON, D.C. —Daphne resident Arjun Jadhav, a student at Daphne High School, was selected to attend the 2008 Congressional Academy.  The 2008 Congressional Academy runs from June 29 to July 11.

The Congressional Academy for American History and Civics will lead high school juniors in a careful study of the pivotal turning points in American history memorialized by the Declaration of Independence, the  Gettysburg Address and the Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech.

One-hundred high school juniors — two students from each state — were selected to participate in the Congressional Academy.

Participating students will spend two weeks in Washington, D.C., with day trips to Philadelphia and Gettysburg, studying the American Revolution and founding, the Civil War and the civil rights movement. The academy  will expose participants to the ideas and arguments that shaped these American epochs, the documents that make up our history, and the places where the history was made. During their stay, participants will be surrounded by the streets  and halls, the battlefields, public places and private lodgings where the history they are studying took place.

Beginning with three documents, studying in three cities, the academy aims to understand three turning points in American history. Participating students will see how these events, infused with  fundamental ideas, shape our national identity, our public institutions and our public discourse. Participants will join in a conversation across time about the most important issues facing America in 1776, 1863, 1963  and today.

The Congressional Academy is coordinated by the John M. Ashbrook Center for Public Affairs at Ashland University and is funded by the U.S. Department of Education.

A total of 658 applications were received for the 2008 academy. For more information, visit: www.CongressionalAcademy.org.