North Carolina General Assembly Field Trip

On June 18, ten of our ambassadors and eight of their parents caravaned to Raleigh for a voluntary field trip. That morning we visited the NC Museum of Natural Science. In groups and individually students viewed skeletons of dinosaurs and whales, walked through a butterfly atrium, and peered through foliage looking for the creatures that lived in the displays. We had a box lunch delivered to us in front of the museum and for dessert...chocolate covered meal worms and crickets of course. Yes, they were real bugs. This is an adventurous group!

Destiny Askew, one of our student ambassadors, and her mom organized the highlight of our trip through her contact with Senator Ed Jones to visit the General Assembly. That afternoon we crossed the road to the NC Legislative Building where we were greeted by an aid to Senator Ed Jones. She guided us through the building pointing out different areas where our state law makers work. Senator Jones greeted us in his office where he explained the process that a a bill becomes law. He introduced members of his staff and various other senators popped in to greet us.

We were then guided to the Senate General Assembly where seats had been reserved for us in the gallery, and we were recognized by the President of the Assembly publicly for our visit. We were able to stay long enough to observe Bill 2436, bill for the NC budget being presented for the second time. Various senators stood and argued for how the money should be spent. Unfortunately, we had to leave after about 45 minutes to head home so we did not get to see the outcome. If you would like to listen in on the General Assenbly when it is in session click on the link above and listen to the Chamber Audio.

Other then finding parking spaces when we first arrived and one of our caravan members being pulled by the police everything went very smoothly. I hope this is a good omen for overseas adventure. (BTW - When the officer heard that the driver was trying to keep up with the rest of the group they were released. So that was a happy ending.)

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