DHS Students Participate in Close Up Day at Georgia Capitol
Decatur Metro | March 2, 2010
DHS teacher Chris Billingsley writes in…
Georgia Close Up day one was successful- except for the lame lunch, a middle school group (Yuk- Eighth Graders!), walking in snow in flip flops, and a fussy teacher complaining about students not paying attention (These were student comments). When I returned and crashed in my classroom, a teacher came by and asked, “How did it go?” I told her, “Fine. I got everyone back alive. No one got sick and threw up. And everyone ate something for lunch (although there were a few complaints about ” no real chefs”. After thirty-three years of teaching and field trips, my expectations are not as high as in 1976.
Really, it was An Outstanding Day from my point of view. I hoped the students learned something and had a little fun walking in the snow. Can you believe it- Snow Again!!! Students met the following legislative players- Stephanie Stuckey (Decatur rep), Elly Dobbs (Buckhead rep), Stacye Abrams (Oakhurst rep), D.A. King (immigration lobbyist) , and Mo Thrash and his partners (considered some of the top lobbyists at the capital). Tomorrow the students are meeting the governor. On Thursday, students are meeting Kathy Cox and others. I am asking students to post comments to your blog about day one.
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Ellie has already wrote in with this comment…
“went to the Georgia Close-Up with my school. I met my representative and also
met some very important lobbyists. I had a great time too.”
The grammar police are gonna get you when the log on in the morning!
Did they get to see lawmakers get indicted or see any hot lobbyist canoodling?
Love that cynical mind-set, Chris. No, seriously, I do. Must deal with reality. Gone are the days of wide-eyed elementary school kids who have fun with the capitol water fountains. But I wouldn’t mind hearing more from the students and wish they would grill the legislators about why they are targeting education for budget cuts!
will someone please tell ellie that “important” and “lobbyists” should NEVER be used in the same sentence? !
I wonder if they saw any of the GSU students protesting pending tuition increases and HOPE scholarship cuts. My son was with the close-up group so I’ll ask him and try to get him to post a comment tonight.
College students from throughout Georgia are getting ready to rumble about these budget cuts! they are massing at the capitol March 15 to protest–the group that protested recently was just a small taste of what is to come. You all need to take a look at the conversations between the USG Chancellor Erroll Davis, and the House Rules Committee — very eye-opening, and a good civic lesson for all students. After all, these high school students–and their parents–will most certainly feel the pain of tuition hikes and program cuts. There must be another way to trim the budget without hitting up higher ed. Maybe Gov. P’s horse project, or his Go-Fish Georgia campaign … our priorities are skewed up, as usual…..
According to online state info, Davis made $549,000 last year. It’s hard to feel like he’s feeling the pain.
GA Close Up has been a great experience. Before, I never realized how much the proposed bills in the GA legistaure affected me. My favorite part of Day 1 was hearing all the students’ opinions about what bills were important to them.
I was at this Georgia Close Up trip, and was very happy to meet the people that are actually trying to solve our state’s problems. They may not be perfect, and they are certainly not fixing what every individual wants. But they are trying to fix it. They work full-time what is considered a part-time job, and are paid $17,000 a year for it. The trip was great fun (especially on National PBJ Day), and we learned a lot of things about politics, and government. So if you haven’t taken the time to learn the problems the state is having, or the bills they’re trying to defend, please, don’t complain.
I attended the Georgia Close up trip. I really enjoyed the trip because I got the opportunity to hear what other students think about the bills and ideas that are in the state government. I was glad and I liked that we got the chance to meet some of the important and influential people of our government. I hope that I will be able to do it again next year as a 10th grader , maybe we can get a teacher to take us to experience this again.