PORTLAND, Ore. – Oregon high school students recently visited with Vice President Joe Biden and other Democrats on a school field trip to a campaign event for U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley.

Washougal High School AP government teacher Jim Reed took students to Portland recently to let students “see first-hand how the campaigning process works,” and to rub elbows with the likes of Merkley, Portland Mayor Charlie Hales, and Biden, among others, the Camas-Washougal Post-Record reports.

Senior Emma Boyle said she learned a lot, and was particularly impressed by Biden’s campaigning techniques.

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“I must say, for a man in his 70s, he is very good at taking selfies with people,” Boyle told the Post-Record. “He was very efficient.”

Students waited outside the rally for about two hours where they talked with attendees about the issues, which included protestors on the Israel-Palestine conflict, proponents of marijuana legalization. Eventually they were escorted to the VIP section “where they had many campaign messages for young voters directed at them,” according to the news site.

Those messages were presumably from the Democratic perspective, although Reed assured the Post-Record the focus of the trip was nonpartisan.

“This trip was not about voting Democrat or Republican,” he said. “But rather to get a feel for the campaign process and their techniques.”

“Both parties are interested in the younger vote,” he said.

Senior Seth Foster though the experience “was very enlightening.”

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“You came away with a better understanding of the campaign process,” he said. “Rallies are very different from campaign TV ads. You could see how they set things up to appeal to the audience to get the right vibe.”

“This experience has really made me excited to vote,” senior Brandon Rotundo told the Post-Record. “I can’t wait to be 18. I will need to know the issues and start picking sides.”

“According to Reed, the students will follow up by watching the results of congressional races and state initiatives. (Students) will also participate in a Washington State election for students at the end of the month through the Secretary of State’s office,” according to the news site.

It’s unclear whether students participated in other political field trips to Republican campaigns, though Reed said the Portland Democratic rally “was a very successful field trip.”