Legislators educate Pima Butte students on how government works

Fifth-grade students at Pima Butte Elementary School received a lesson in politics on Thursday from three special visitors. The visit was part of a national “Legislators Back to School” program that was sponsored by state legislators.

State Senator Rebecca Rios from District 23 (D), Representative Pete Rios (D) and Representative Barbara McGuire (D) were on hand to meet with the students, take questions and participate in an exercise on democracy. The visit was coordinated by Pima Butte teacher Alena Leos.

“I have a friend who works at the state capital,” Leos said. “She informed me of the program and I thought it would be perfect for our fifth-graders as we learn about state and U.S. government. I contacted the program director and he was able to set up all of our representatives coming out, where usually it is only one. We feel very lucky to have been able to have them all visit.”

“At the end of the day, we live in a republic,” Pete Rios told the students. “It is the people that decide who will get elected.” Rios also went over the subject of compromise with the students and how that is a way for legislators to push bills through.

Rebecca Rios told the students that you want all kinds of people running for office. “You want women, men, and people of all colors and ethnicities,” Rios said. “It is important for everyone to get involved.”

The Rios’, who were the first father-daughter legislative team ever to serve together in Arizona, led off the conversation with discussing the reason for the visit.

“We came here to educate the citizenry about the legislative system,” Rebecca Rios said. “An offer to visit schools was put out there and Pima Butte requested this. I mostly have to remind myself not to bore them,” Rios said with a laugh. “I did a dry run of the presentation with my son who is in sixth grade. I want to put things in terms that the students will understand.”

McGuire said she chose to run because of her initial work with the Salvation Army. Helping people there in need led her to want to help more individuals. “I wanted to do this on a larger scale,” McGuire said.

During the Q&A session with the students, the fifth-graders assembled fired off some interesting questions for the three legislators.

Among the topics the students wanted to know about was legislation to make it illegal to text message while driving, could the representatives represent other states, are kids allowed to vote, why there are not seat belts on school buses and why people are allowed to bear guns.

The students took part in an exercise that involved splitting up the room. The topic matter was whether or not they should be required to wear uniforms to school. A number of students came to the microphone and expressed their views as to why they should or should not have to wear them.

Among the arguments for uniforms was that wearing them will make all students equal and there will be no arguments on who is cool or not. As to why not to wear uniforms, some students said it would cost their parents extra money.

Both Pete and Rebecca Rios reminded the students that voting when they’re eligible is very important.

“In a lot of schools, kids will also vote during elections,” Pete Rios said. “We’ve often seen where kids voted a lot better than their parents did, he added with a laugh. I hope our visit today allows you to walk away and remember a little bit about representative government.”

Rebecca Rios wrapped up the conversation by reminding students that they should register to vote when they turn 18. “It doesn’t matter who you vote for, it is important that you vote,” she noted.

McGuire told the students in closing that they were a bright group and she will remember her day at the school.

‘This event helped to cement some of the concepts we have learned this year such as how our government works and how bills are made,” Leos added. “The students took away a better understanding of our government’s process and hopefully it has also inspired some future politicians.”

Photo by Dave Thomas