Seniors in Jon Felder’s AP Government and Honors Economics class went on a field trip to the San Francisco City Hall and Federal Reserve on April 19 for guided tours.
Students met at the San Mateo Caltrain stop at 9:30 a.m. and took the Caltrain and BART to get to City Hall and take a guided tour for an hour. Then, after lunch, they took a tour of the Federal Reserve for an hour and a half before taking the Caltrain back to San Mateo.
The San Francisco City Hall, the first stop of the trip, is a historic landmark that holds documents, pictures, exhibits and information from historical events in the city.
“We didn’t study the architecture in class and since the city hall building is so old, it’s gone through the two earthquakes — 1907 and 1989 — so I learned how it survived that and all the architecture which was interesting,” said senior Kaitlin Araghi.
Next, students took a tour of the Federal Reserve, where they visited the cash operations area and learned about the Federal Reserve’s role in monetary policy and the supervision of banks.
“The reserve is really important in economics because as students who live in the Bay Area, we should be knowledgeable about how the monetary policies work,” said senior Andrea Ng.
In Felder’s class, students are currently learning about modern government systems and how they function, as well as how finances are dealt with.
“We learn about how the government works as a whole, how money in the government works, and also how companies and individuals deal with money generally,” Ng said.
From learning about supply and demand to GDP and monetary policy in class, the field trip provides a hands-on opportunity to explore the local government of San Francisco.
