WASHINGTON — The three newbies who will form Maryland’s U.S. House freshman class arrived Tuesday and began learning about everything from keeping safe on Capitol Hill, to “customizing” their offices, to showing their “good side” when posing for pictures.

Representatives-elect Johnny Olszewski Jr., of Baltimore County, Sarah Elfreth of Anne Arundel County and April McClain Delaney of Montgomery County, all Democrats, began 10 days of orientation in Washington that felt like equal parts boot camp and the first day of school.

The House Administration Committee is overseeing the sessions with the goal, according to a committee release, of allowing members-elect “to network with their new colleagues and learn more about congressional operations in Washington before officially being sworn in as members of the House.”

A tentative agenda — prepared for the soon-to-be lawmakers and obtained by The Baltimore Sun — includes seminars such as “Finding and Working with the Right Chief of Staff,” “Customizing your Office,” and “What is a Member’s Job?”

There are weighty topics such as “Member Security in Washington D.C.” and “Mandatory Ethics,” and less serious ones, including “Swearing-in and Inaugural Preparation” and “Managing the Member’s Schedule.”

“There’s some back-to-school element to it,” said Olszewski, the Baltimore County executive elected last week in the 2nd Congressional District that includes parts of Baltimore and Carroll counties and a small piece of Baltimore City. “I spent much of my career teaching about Congress, teaching about the different branches of government, so it’s a full circle moment in that regard.”

Olszewski, Elfreth, and McClain Delaney were interviewed by The Sun on a blustery day outside the Library of Congress, where the seminars were held. Across the street, the Capitol shone in the bright sun.

“I literally came from the State House this morning to come here,” said Elfreth, 36, the youngest woman ever elected to the Maryland Senate. She will be a state senator until Jan. 2, and will be sworn into Congress the next day. “I turned a corner and all of a sudden the Capitol was right in front of me, and that was a pretty cool moment,” said Elfreth, whose district includes Howard County and parts of Anne Arundel and Carroll counties.

The sessions began one week after an election in which Republicans captured the White House, the Senate and the House. Part of the freshmen’s training will be how to work effectively as the minority party.

Orientation runs through Nov. 22. Other activities include a “class photo” on Friday on the steps of the East Front of the U.S. Capitol and a room lottery next week, during which new members will be assigned their offices.

The best offices — valued for their size, view, and proximity to the House floor and other key spots — are already assigned to senior members. The first-termers vie for what’s left over in the Rayburn, Longworth and Cannon buildings across Independence Avenue from the Capitol.

Some of the agenda items — strategy sessions of sorts — are colored in red or blue, signifying they are for Republicans or Democrats only.

The orientation is designed to encourage mingling. The members-elect — even the ones from Maryland who could drive home at the end of the day — are staying together at a Capitol Hill hotel.

The Marylanders on Tuesday seemed eager to learn about their fellow freshmen, including details about each other’s districts and more trivial matters such as which is their good side when they pose for photos.

“Do you have a side?” Elfreth asked McClain Delaney as they aligned themselves for a group picture. Olszewski, who is 6-foot-6, ended up seated in the middle with Elfreth and McClain Delaney on either side.

Maryland currently has no women in its eight-member House delegation. Beginning on Jan. 3, it will have Elfreth and McClain Delaney, plus Democratic Sen.-elect Angela Alsobrooks, who will be Maryland’s first Black U.S. senator.

The last time multiple women were part of Maryland’s U.S. House delegation simultaneously was from 1993-’95, when Republicans Helen Bentley and Connie Morella overlapped before Bentley left to run for governor, a position that no woman has won in Maryland.

“I think it was really not good for Maryland to have no women in the delegation for several years,” said McClain Delaney, who will represent the 6th Congressional District stretching from Montgomery County through Western Maryland.

“I think it’s important to have that representation particularly when you have so many issues concerning reproductive freedoms, maternal health, women’s rights,” McClain Delaney said. “I hear a lot about it in my district, things like affordable day care and issues of making ends meet.”

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