Eighth graders learn about politics

John Corbin’s eight grade civics class recently began a project about participation in politics; a number of the students chose to write letters to their representatives in Washington, D.C., expecting nothing in return. What they got, however, forever changed their minds about American democracy.

Corbin gave his class three options for their “How Can I Participate in Politics” project: creating a poster to “get out the vote”, contacting an elected representative in Washington, or making a Facebook page for a presidential candidate.

“The challenge was learning about our government and how to affect politics,” said Corbin. “These guys chose to contact their senators and Congresswoman Lummis, and they got some very interesting responses.”

Tyler Kay, Jarron Mortimore, Akeyla Franklin and Blake Williams chose to research a bill on which the representatives would soon vote, sharing their perspectives with the officials.

Kay and Mortimore wrote to Congresswoman Cynthia Lummis about Senate Bill 1203, the 21st Century Veterans Benefits Delivery Act, urging Lummis to vote in favor of the bill that would ensure health benefits to service members.

“After we found it, we did a little research into the bill and we wrote to Lummis about it,” said Mortimore. “We contacted her press secretary and we asked him how Lummis felt about the bill. We gave our reasons why we think it was a good bill.”

To the surprise of the eighth grade duo, Lummis responded in full to their email.

“I am always impressed when young adults want to learn more about the political process in Washington, D.C.,” she said, “and I appreciate this opportunity to respond. The veteran congresswoman then continued to expand upon the bill in question, writing, “The bill aims to provide greater access and explanations to veterans regarding their benefits,” promising to closely monitor the progress of the bill through the legislative process.

“It was nice that somebody from a big town like that, with all the different offices she has, would contact a place like us,” Mortimore said. Kay agreed, adding that, “it made me realize it’s a lot easier to have a voice [in politics]” he said.

Franklin and Williams then contacted senators Barrasso and Enzi respectively about the current refugee crisis spawned in part by the years-old Syrian revolution. Both Franklin and Williams were concerned about the prospect of refugees coming to the United States could result in a terrorist attack.

As Williams said, “Thinking about all of the immigrants [refugees] coming here, and the possibility of ISIS coming with them,” was the inspiration for his letter.

In his response, Enzi noted that he was, “Deeply concerned about the situation in Syria and about violence against Christians and religious minorities as well as civilians and refugees trapped in the fighting.”

Although Wyoming is not a possible location for the settlement of the suggested 10,000 incoming refugees, Enzi wrote that, “We must protect against potential threats that seek to enter our country through refugee programs.”

Franklin received a similar response from John Barrasso, who noted that he was happy to know that students were learning about government, saying that the government was stronger when citizens remained informed.

Barrasso told Franklin that his interest in politics began when he was a senior and traveled to the nation’s capital as part of a program that encouraged American youth to be engaged in politics. “During that trip I became interested in serving the community,” he wrote.

“He went on to say that ISIS tried to carry out a series of terrorist attacks. He would rather not let them in than have them come in and be a part of ISIS and try to kill us all,” Franklin said of Barrasso’s response. In Franklin’s words, Barrasso noted that he would rather have the refugees stay ‘over there,’ either in Syria or neighboring countries like Jordan and Lebanon.

When asked how she felt about getting a response from a representative in Washington, Franklin said it was, “Pretty cool and awesome,” continuing, “They’re more higher-league than us, and we’re just a little, small town. It was pretty cool to hear back from them.”

“The big, driving force for me was to prove to them and to everybody that it doesn’t matter how small you are, and who you are, you can have an impact on the civic process,” Corbin said. “What I liked about the letters was the personal anecdote, that they took the time to be personal with the kids even though they’re just in middle school. They did a good job making sure that they were valued.”

All four of the students present agreed with Corbin’s remarks, and it was clear that the letters from Washington had a great impact on the future leaders of our country.