Pub. 6 2016-2017 Issue 2

13 W hy climb the Hill? The UAPCS sponsored Charter School Day on the Hill is an important annual event for helping keep legislators and other elected officials, USBE members and staff, and even charter schools ourselves focused on what is important about our work – our ability to serve our students well. As a part of state public education, charter schools have a unique position and responsibility with their granted autonomy. It is important for charter schools to have a show of collective presence, and the occasion to com- municate with those who make decisions about funding and opportunities for our students. City Academy students, teachers, administrators, and board members have gone to the Hill for Charter School Day for many years now, and this year was the best event yet. What makes it a worthwhile experience? • The preparation of our table presentations and our students for our day in the capitol rotunda is a very positive experience for us. We synthesize and celebrate what makes our school innovative and worth attending. • Even though we cherish our autonomy, often being an independent charter school can feel lonely. When so many of us gather together for Charter Day on the Hill it is an energizing experience. It is fun to walk around and talk with other schools we would never get to visit on location, and hear from their students about accomplishments. Being there together also draws media coverage for charter schools that we would each individually not receive. It was an amazing opportunity to share our story this year with TV news reporters. • Being in the Capitol Rotunda during the legislative session allows the opportunity for our students and other stake holders to hear from our Governor and talk with our legislators and other officials about what is important to us. We had good discussions with our Representatives and Senators, our State Superintendent, andmany others who stopped by our table. It was a busy three hours that also included a tour behind the scenes with our school’s senator, Senator Debakis. City Academy students who attended that day knew they were a part of their educational and legislative communities. One of the most important reasons we provide opportunity for our City Academy students to spend time away from school for this Charter Day on the Hill event is for the immersion they get into our legislative process. As those who are learning a foreign language know, learning is more authentic, we learn more in a shorter time, and we learn things just through having been there with this type of immersive experiential learning. Elected officials and legislators become more real for students as they spend time in the capitol building, watch the legislature in action, see the rooms elected officials work in, and listen to some of the legislative debate. I believe charter schools have a duty to gather as we do on Charter Day, and become a collective voice on behalf of our students and their families. I believe this event also offers our students a chance at learning they wouldn’t have while sitting in a classroom. I encourage all of us to engage in this experience up on the Hill. CHARTER DAY ON THE HILL BY SONIA WOODBURY