Every year, local legislators bring the capitol to classrooms around the county as part of the Wyoming Back To School program.
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GOSHEN COUNTY – Every year, local legislators bring the capitol to classrooms around the county as part of the Wyoming Back To School program.
Friday, House District No. 5 Representative Cheri Steinmetz wrapped up her annual presentations with eighth and 12th-grade government classes in Goshen County School District (GCSD) No. 1.
“This (program) is done at the state level … but I’ve kind of adapted it to fit our schools – I think the students like to participate in a mock legislature,” Steinmetz said.
Her presentations include general information about state government, as well as the mock election of a Speaker of the House and debate about a current hot-button issue – this year’s topic was whether or not teachers and staff should be allowed to carry concealed weapons on school property.
Steinmetz also asks students their opinions about Wyoming’s current budget crisis and how it relates to education – with the full intention of relaying this information to fellow lawmakers in Cheyenne during the legislative session.
“I wanted to bring the students in the discussion about education funding thinking maybe they could provide solutions and thoughts we wouldn’t necessarily think of,” she said. “They’re the ones in school now, and there were a lot of good ideas.”
Potential ideas to save education dollars, as proposed by students, included a four-day school week, eliminating physical textbooks and instead opting for digital versions, using portable computers and devices and doing away with stationary computer labs, and more.
Steinmetz prefers to visit the schools beginning in September in correlation with Constitution Day, and said this year she was able to meet with more students than the previous two years thanks to Kevin Derby, GCSD instructional facilitator for social studies, who helped schedule the presentations.
“I think it’s important (to meet with the students) because we’re a government that is by the people, for the people,” Steinmetz said. “It’s important for our students to consider that, especially as they graduate and discover how they’d like to become civically engaged. They also get an opportunity to see how government works during the mock legislature, and what it’s like to be making decisions for other people.
“The history teachers are doing a really good job of preparing them in this county,” she added.
