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Parker senior turns family loss into motivation for scholarly research with Washington Seminar

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Photo by Dan Lassiter

Parker High senior Karrah Watson is attending this year's Washington Seminar and is focusing her attention on Health Care reform.

JANESVILLE — Karrah Watson, an 18-year-old senior at Parker High School, returned to her home in Janesville about midnight Sunday, Nov. 1. She had spent an exhausting day at St. Mary’s Hospital in Madison, where her mother, a special education aide at Parker, was slipping away after a 15-month battle with breast cancer.

Four hours later, she learned that her mother, 42-year-old Laura Watson, had lost the battle. Karrah’s life changed dramatically as she took on the responsibility of helping her father, Bill, take care of her younger sister and brother, Hillary and Jeremy.

Besides the grief of Laura’s death, the family had to deal with the loss of Bill’s job at Alliant Energy’s Rock River Generating Station. He transferred to Cassville and later Portage. The new assignments required Bill to be away from home for days at a time, leaving it up to Karrah to take care of Hillary and Jeremy.

Karrah also works part-time at the Milton Avenue Pizza Hut and volunteers at her church, St. William Parish.

When she’s not juggling all these duties, Karrah attends class at Parker, where she is enrolled in three advanced-placement classes—English, calculus and government. Her AP government class includes the Washington Seminar component that requires a week of field research in Washington, D.C.

Karrah and 30 classmates leave Saturday morning for Washington, where she will complete a year-long study of hospital costs by conducting additional research and attending briefings and interviews.

“When it came time to choose a topic to study all year for Washington Seminar, it was easy for me to choose hospital costs and services,” Karrah said. “Dad had good insurance, although we’re still not sure how much we will owe, but we all went through so much uncertainty with Mom’s cancer that I was left with so many questions.”

Karrah says she will study how hospital care is provided and how health officials decide which patients get what kind of care.

“My mom suffered an incredible amount of pain after she was given the wrong chemo treatment that was not compatible with her radiation treatments,” Karrah said. “She suffered so much before they got that straightened out.”

On the plus side, Karrah said her mother received good care from nurses and staff. At times, however, not enough people were on hand, she said.

“I remember one time when my mom really needed some medication, but the unit was simply short-staffed, and we had to wait far too long,” she said. “There should never be a shortage of staff to take care of the patients.”

Karrah’s study of hospital services and costs will push into the study of health care overall and the debate on Capitol Hill.

“Without adequate health insurance, more people will not be able to afford adequate health care,” she said. “This could affect hospitals, and some could close. This entire issue could lead to more people dying prematurely

“I have many, many questions, and most of them come from experiencing what my mom and my family have been through,” Karrah said. “It’s obvious somebody isn’t doing something to fix these problems. Through this study, I’m looking for some of those solutions to the problems.”

Karrah keeps busy and tries not to think about the loss that is still too recent.

“I know it sounds odd, but Mom’s death was, in one way, a relief for us and her,” Karrah said. “She was in so much pain, and she had slipped so far. Unlike many cancer illnesses, she never experienced times when she would get better. She just kept getting sicker and sicker to the point where her suffering was so great.”

Her Washington Seminar week of field research will serve two purposes, Karrah said.

“I’m really looking forward to next week because I’m hoping to round out my topic with good interviews and good information,” she said. “It will also be good to kind of get away for a week and experience a new adventure.”

Despite the excitement, Karrah remains grounded in her responsibilities to Hillary and Jeremy.

“We have an aunt who will be taking care of things while Dad and I are gone next week, but I’ll still worry about them,” she said. “I’ll be calling them and Dad every day until I’m back in Janesville.”

Local economy forces changes to Washington Seminar

Through the generosity of Janesville organizations, service clubs and individuals, Janesville Parker High School Advanced Placement government teacher Joe Van Rooy has been able to hold down the cost to parents and students participating in the school’s Washington Seminar.

The 2010 version of the program, the 38th annual, has presented the largest challenge yet for Van Rooy, the Washington Seminar director.

“Our program has been affected in much the same way other things have in our community with the loss of the General Motors plant and related businesses,” Van Rooy said earlier this week between classes as he prepared for next week’s field research session in Washington, D.C. “We have kept costs constant for the past five years, but it was especially difficult this year to do that.”

Van Rooy said he is committed to keeping costs down because of his general philosophy about participation.

“I want to ensure that no student is left behind when we go to Washington because he or she can’t afford it,” he said. “This is a unique, beyond-the-classroom walls academic experience that every one of the 31 students this year has worked very hard to experience. It’s my job to make sure they all get to cap off all that hard work with this week of intense study in Washington.”

Money contributed to the program is used when scholarship assistance is needed.

“We have seen a dramatic increase in need this year because of the local economic hardships,” Van Rooy said. “The assistance we have received has made it possible to hold down costs, provide scholarship assistance and make sure we all make the trip as a complete group.”

The students are studying topics that, in many cases, are timely.

“Several students are studying topics related to health care, including end-of-life issues, the public option, cooperative insurance plans, Medicare and Medicaid,” Van Rooy said. “In addition to this class being our largest, it also mirrors much of what is going on in Wisconsin, the nation and the world.”

The students will spend most of the working day at briefings and interviews, but cultural events are offered in the evenings. The scholars will attend events at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and Ford’s Theatre.

A recent tradition for the week in Washington is a briefing at the Israeli Embassy.

“It’s important that all students experience an embassy visit, and the Israelis have offered a number of staff resources to address many of the issues we are studying,” Van Rooy said. “In addition to Israel, several of the students have independent interviews at other embassies.”

The 31 students and five staff members leave Janesville on Saturday morning for their flight to Washington and will return in a week.

Milton High School teacher initiates AP government course

Many of you may know Val Crofts as an Elvis tribute artist, but to 28 AP government students at Milton High School, he’s their teacher making possible a new academic opportunity.

Crofts, a 1989 graduate of Janesville Parker High School, experienced the school’s Washington Seminar program while an AP government student of Seminar founder John Eyster. He has modeled the Milton program, Discovering Democracy, after Washington Seminar with some modifications based on his teaching philosophy.

“Washington Seminar had a life-changing effect on me,” Crofts said. “My goal is to provide that same experience to Milton High students.”

Crofts’ Seminar experience included the first and only student interview in the White House Oval Office.

“Back then, we weren’t e-mailing,” he said. “We sent out snail mail letters requesting interviews during our week in Washington.

“I sent a letter to President Bush’s press secretary, Marlin Fitzwater, requesting an interview for my topic, which was the White House and the media. He said, ‘Sure, why don’t we meet in the Oval Office.’”

After an interview with the assistant press secretary, Shawn Miller, Crofts attended a South Lawn press conference and stood next to Brit Hume, now the senior political analyst for Fox News.

After bouncing around for a few years at different jobs, including an Elvis act in Las Vegas, which he still pulls out from time to time, Crofts earned a teaching degree from UW-Whitewater in 1993 and started teaching at Milton in 2003.

“The first goal was to get an AP government program started, which was approved three years ago,” he said. “Then I received permission for the Discovering Democracy program. This is our first year.”

The Milton program combines historical sites with academic research.

“My love of history is reflected in what we will be doing to study and honor founding fathers,” Crofts said. “For example, we will be visiting some of the monuments and a Civil War battlefield on our way home.”

The Milton scholars will travel by Van Galder bus, which provides opportunities for stops at historical sites along the way.

Although students will do some sightseeing, they will spend much of their time on academic activities, including a rare briefing by Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.

“As I researched the Supreme Court, I noticed that it was possible to request a question- and-answer session with a Supreme Court justice,” Crofts said. “I thought ‘why not’ and sent in a request. He agreed, and we are scheduled to meet with him the Tuesday we are in D.C.”

The 28 students and four Milton High staff members will leave for Washington on Saturday, March 27, and will return Friday, April 2. The week coincides with the school’s spring break.

Students and topics

A list of students and topics involved with Washington Seminar 2010:

Sammy Jackson, US/EU relations; Abby Sellman, US/ Arab/Israeli peace process; Luke Markley, US/ Israel relations; Sarah Sodemann, drug war/border security; Calvin Nauer, immigration reform; Abby Huebner, bio-defense policy; Molly Rozeboom, executive compensation; Ryan Webb, Medicare reform; Jillian Nay, public option/healthcare reform; William Hayward, Medicare reform; Kitchell Garey, medical malpractice and healthcare reform; Karrah Watson, hospital costs; Lauren Hayden, end of life care; Katie Martin, homosexual rights; Jonathon Hammon, historic preservation policy; Jennifer Getka, NCLB reform; Elizabeth Muetz. special education and NCLB reform; Katie Brossard, raising college costs; Lucas Wimmer, job growth policy; Erin Jensen, poverty policy; Stephanie Schoeder, outsourcing; M. Jay Bouska, NASA funding and future; Amanda Rodriguez, funding for the arts; Daniel Lehr, U.S. debt reduction; Ashley Holbrook, tax reform policy; Daniel Pessoa, veteran transition programs; Alayna Spengler, wounded veterans policy; Heather Dickison, offshore drilling; Nicholas Gilbank, auto technology funding/policy; Mindi Nellis, campaign finance reform; Duane Raiche, lobbying reform.

Staff members for Washington Seminar 2010 are: Joe Van Rooy, director; Sue Douglas, associate director; Stan Milam, media consultant; Barb Dougal, assistant principal; Bruce Dougal, staff assistant.