Hawley Students Learn About Connecticut’s Government

By Eliza Hallabeck

Hawley fourth grade students learned what the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of Connecticut’s government do last week, when visited by Mary Muller from the Connecticut Historical Society’s Education Department.

Ms Muller made her way through each of the Hawley’s fourth grade classrooms on Wednesday, December 15, and in Melissa Thorpe’s class she asked Gren Paynter, Carter Goodrich, Libby Poseno, and Emily Krasnickas to represent each branch of the government.

She asked both Gren and Carter to act in the place of the legislative branch, and, with quill in hand, they acted out writing a bill.

“The legislative branch makes the laws. What does the executive branch do?” Ms Muller asked the students. After responses she said, “They have to make sure the laws get carried out.”

The four students helped Ms Muller demonstrate how a law goes from a senator’s hand, or Gren’s in this case, to becoming a law.

When “our senator here” has his bill ready to present, he introduces it to the senate. If it passes, the bill is moved to the House of Representatives.

At this point in the process, Ms Muller reminded the students, “It’s still just a bill.”

If the bill passes the House of Representatives it is brought before the governor, Libby. The governor has the option of vetoing the bill, signing the bill, or allowing the bill to become a law without signing his or her name to the bill.

Ms Muller also explained how an ordinary citizen, who student Ryan Brown represented, could challenge a bill. If challenged, the law would go before the judicial branch, and a judge would have the option of throwing the bill out, according to Ms Muller.

After the presentation, Ms Muller asked the fourth graders why they thought all three branches of the government were needed. Students responded by saying, “They could go overboard,” and, “Checks and balances.”

During the visit to Ms Thorpe’s class, Ms Muller also had the students hold an election for a governor, and performed a debate to represent the judicial branch.

When choosing a governor, Ms Muller said, “You want to vote for the person you think will make the best governor.”

“For our election today, the only people who can vote are people who are 18 and younger,” Ms Muller said, to the voiced surprise of students.

Students Sophia Vetore and Justin Bogdanoff both ran for the position of governor during the election. Justin expressed concern for students’ health and the availability of education for all students, while Sophia expressed concern of students’ supervision by parents and proximity to cigarettes during their campaign speeches before the class.

“No guns, no drugs, no alcohol,” said Sophia, saying none of those items would be allowed near children if she was chosen for governor.

When the vote was announced, Sophia was named the winner.

The visit was sponsored by the Hawley’s PTA Cultural Arts Committee. Information about the Connecticut Historical Society is available at www.chs.org.