Senators to Visit Oklahoma Classrooms

School is back in session and children across the state will get a civics lesson first hand from their elected officials. Senators across the state will once again be traveling to schools in their districts to personally meet with students, answer questions and share ideas from the students in the public school system. The Senators will also provide the students with a greater understanding of the legislative process through explaining how a bill is drafted and the steps a bill goes through to become law.

America’s Legislators Back To School Week is September 19th through 23rd and is sponsored by the National Conference for State Legislators (NCSL). The event is designed to teach young people, who will become Oklahoma’s future voters and leaders, what it is like to be a public servant. Legislators Back to School week will enable students to learn the ins and outs of our representative democracy.

The program was introduced in 1999 by NCSL as a one-day event. That one day was such a great success and was so well-received by legislators and schools that it turned into a one-week event in 2001. According to an NCSL report in 1972, half of the population of 18 to 24-year-olds voted. However, a study conducted by www.civicyouth.org showed that in the 2004 election, 47 percent of the 18 to 24-year-olds exercised their right to vote, which is up from 33 percent in the 2000 election. The Legislators Back to School Week emphasizes the importance of involvement and the value of a representative democracy.

Many Oklahoma legislators are participating in the Back to School program, but due to lesson schedules some senators will visit their district schools later in the semester.

ATTENTION NEWS EDITORS: Attached you will find a list of Senators that are participating in the NCSL Legislators Back to School Week and their district numbers. The media is welcome to attend any of the events; however it is strongly advised that you contact the school prior to attending so that the school administrators will be expecting you and will let you in the building.

For more information regarding the Legislators Back to School Week, please contact Adrianne Covington in the Senate Communications Department at (405) 530-2356.

Among the senators participating in the 2004 NCSL Legislator’s Back to School Week are the following:

Senator District #
Tom Adelson 33
Cliff Aldridge 42
Patrick Anderson 19
Don Barrington 31
Randy Brogdon 34
Bernest Cain 46
Gilmer Capps 26
Harry Coates 28
Glenn Coffee 30
Kenneth Corn 04
Brian Crain 39
Mary Easley 18
Judy Eason McIntyre 11
John Ford 29
Earl Garrison 09
Jay Paul Gumm 06
Cal Hobson 16
Ron Justice 23
Todd Lamb 47
Charlie Laster 17
Owen Laughlin 27
Daisy Lawler 24
Debbe Leftwich 44
Rick Littlefield 01
Angela Monson 48
David Myers 20
Susan Paddack 13
Jim Reynolds 43
Nancy Riley 37
Kathleen Wilcoxson 45
Charles Wyrick 01

**If you need to reach a senator’s office to determine their schedule, please call the Senate switchboard at (405) 524-0126.