Zebulon — They walked where our country’s leaders walked, learned about our founder’s fight for freedom and took in how to walk in another’s shoes.

Zebulon Middle School seventh graders Todd Mizell, Matthew Yeager and Alysa Vereen learned lessons of a lifetime at the Junior National Young Leaders Conference in Washington, D.C. this spring.

“It was real interesting to learn about all the different places where our leaders actually worked and walked and how they put their lives on the line everyday,” said Yeager, the son of Mart and Alicia Yeager of Zebulon.

The three were among the 250 students across the country chosen by their teachers for academic achievement and leadership potential.

“The day we talked about respect it was real emotional for everybody,” said Vereen, the daughter of Michael and Letisa Vereen of Wendell. “It made you think about how you treated other people. … To put yourself in that person’s place before you do something that could cause consequences to come.”

And so they walked not only in the shoes of the people they met, but along the path of freedom in Independence National Park. They viewed the Liberty bell and toured Independence Hall where the Declaration of Independence was signed. The students traveled to Harper’s Ferry, Virginia, and saw the site of John Brown’s rebellion that helped spark the Civil War and freedom from slavery.

They toured Washington and took in the Lincoln, Vietnam and Korean War Memorials, the Washington Monument, the White House, Capitol Hill and the National Portrait Gallery.

Each day, they spent time in leadership group meetings, working on projects related to character, communication, goal setting, problem solving, respect and teamwork.

“It was pretty cool, meeting all the new people,” said Mizell, the son of Jennifer and Ronnie Mizell of Wendell.

They had a giant camp out at the 4-H Center in Chevy Chase, Maryland where they spent their nights. And again the last night of the trip at the Maryland Science Center in Baltimore.

But the students couldn’t burn too much midnight oil in late night pow-wows. Lights were out at 10 p.m., and they were up at 6 a.m.

They learned about many of the country’s early leaders and all of them found Benjamin Franklin the most interesting. Mizell, for his leadership; Yeager, for the abilities he used to help provide the foundations for a nation; and Vereen, for his keen mind and numerous inventions. They toured the Franklin Museum and visited his homes in both childhood and adulthood.

“I learned about our leaders and how the United States was formed and what the people had to go through to get our country where it is today,” said Mizell.

Their parents also learned some things from their teens’ trip. Alecia Yeager said she realized how to let her child go, good practice as he grows older.

“They can read something in a book, but being able to set foot on those places and in the museums and so forth, it really reinforces what they’ve learned,” said Michael Vereen.

Jennifer Mizell lived the trip through her son who was “excited about what he learned each day.”

They got to see their kids in action during the week through e-mails from the program with photographs and music.

For their teens, the week made history and the essence of leadership come to life.

“I didn’t realize it took so long for us to be an independent nation and how people had to keep going and not think what could happen, but what could they do,” said Yeager.