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Butte Falls senior enjoys week in D.C. For the Mail Tribune / Andrew Kemp Jaclyn Lyon, 17, a Butte Falls High School senior, shows off an American flag given to her as part of her recent trip to Washington, D.C., for the 39th annual U.S. Senate Youth Program. The Butte Falls valedictorian has many other mementos from her trip, including a picture of her and other students with President Bush. She gets photo with president, hears lectures and meets several senators By Melissa Martin BUTTE FALLS � Jaclyn Lyon crowded with 100 other high school students on the steps of the White House recently to pose with President George W. Bush. A photographer standing on a ladder snapped a few frames before President Bush headed to North Dakota State University to announce his tax-cut plan. "Before he boarded the helicopter, he told us, �Congratulations� and gave us the thumbs up," said the 17-year-old senior at Butte Falls High School. JACLYN LYON Activities: Butte Falls High volleyball team, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, National Honor Society, Recycling Club, Future Business Leaders of America, Brain Bowl, Site Council, Campus Life. Community Service: Adopt-A-Family food drive, Trail Christian Fellowship worship team, Sunday school teacher, mission trip to Havasupai, Ariz. Family: The oldest of four children of Robert and Susan Lyon, owners of Lyon Construction, Eagle Point. College plans: Study business and accounting at Western Baptist College, Salem. Lyon and a student from Boardman were among delegates from all 50 states who spent a week in Washington, D.C., as part of the 39th annual U.S. Senate Youth Program. Besides seeing the president, Lyon dined in elegant ballrooms, listened to a lecture by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy and placed a wreath at The Tomb of the Unknowns. It was a change of pace for the valedictorian of a 76-student high school in a logging town with 200 residents. "She got to meet and see a lot of influential people that many adults would have loved to see," said Dave Bone, dean of students at Butte Falls High School. "We felt pretty good that we are such a small school � and only two delegates were chosen from each state � and they chose Jaclyn." Lyon was selected as a first alternate in December. But a last-minute cancellation by a Clackamas student caused Lyon to pack in a hurry and rush to the airport. She arrived at the nation�s capital March 3, the first day of the youth program that ended March 10. "We had to wear business attire and I didn�t even have time to shop, so I borrowed clothes every day," Lyon said. Donning dark-blue suits and white blouses, Lyon listened to majority leader Sen. Trent Lott and Democratic leader Sen. Tom Daschle in the Russell Senate Office Building. One student asked what Congress planned to do about the increase in school shootings. "They didn�t think the answer was adding metal detectors," said Lyon, whose own high school is deemed so safe that student lockers don�t have combination locks. "They said the answer is personal changes the students must make." She also saw Sens. Ted Kennedy, John McCain and Hillary Clinton, as well as Secretary of State Colin Powell. One of her favorite lectures was by CNBC�s "Hardball" host Chris Matthews, because of his interaction with the politically-diverse group of teenagers. A popular politician herself after being elected student body president two years in a row, Lyon will never forget other trip highlights � being picked up at the airport by security staff and eating a White House-shaped white chocolate dessert in the Benjamin Franklin Room at the U.S. Department of State building. She�ll always remember the towering statue of Albert Einstein, the powerful Iwo Jima Memorial and the luxurious Mayflower Hotel. And she�ll keep trip souvenirs � a flag that flew over the U.S. Capital, a photo published in The Washington Post showing Lyon peeking through a group of students gathered around President Bush and a list of delegate addresses. "I made a lot of great friends there," Lyon said. "I hope to keep in touch by e-mail." Reach reporter Melissa Martin at 776-4497, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.