Boone Trail Bill goes to Committee
May 26, 2009
Wentzville School District
Mr. Bruegenhemke’s fourth grade class at Boone Trail Elementary had a great idea for a hands-on lesson in American Government after a visit by State Senator Scott Rupp. They decided to write a bill and try to get it signed into law!
“I think the process provided our 4th graders with insights into what actually goes into drafting a bill into law. ‘We the People’ means all the people, even the ones who are ten and eleven,” said paraprofessional educator Judith Puder. “When you do the work, step by step, you get a view you just can’t get from a book. Being able to question elected officials and participating in a mock bill debate placed our students right in the middle of the lesson.”
After much discussion and research, the class decided that their bill would designate the mastodon of the species “Mammut Americanus” as the official Missouri prehistoric mammal. Through their research the class learned that adult mastodons stood between 8 and 10 feet tall, and weighed as much as 6 tons. They also found out that the mastodon was a food source for early native hunters who came to what is now Missouri to hunt the giant mammal.
When it was time to write the bill, Representative Chuck Gatschenberger also visited the class, and offered to introduce the bill to the Missouri House of Representatives. Once there, the bill was assigned a number (HB 887) and had a first reading. The fourth grade class then took a field trip to Jefferson City as guests of Representative Gatschenberger, and learned first hand about “lobbying” as they attempted to help get the bill passed.
For the past month the bill has been on the desk of Speaker Ron Richard, but just recently he has assigned the bill to the tourism committee.
“It was very exciting to hear Rep. Gatschenberger inform us that our Bill was on the Speaker’s desk and had been “Blue-backed,” said Puder. “When he told us it would probably go to the Tourism Committee we were ecstatic. We now know that indeed it did go to that committee. We are in the process of lobbying the Chairman and the Vice-Chairman of the Tourism Committee for their support.”
The class has been invited back for the debate on the floor of the House of Representatives.
Copyright 2009 Neighbors About Town
