•    I had the pleasure of chaperoning our Sonoran Foothills Elementary CSO’s Roan and Priya to the 2016 CSO Capitol Summit with the AZ Governor’s Office of Education on Friday, October 28th.  It was a full day that started at 9:15 in the morning and went till 3:00 in the afternoon with a working lunch around noon.  The day consisted of three sessions with various government officials, activists, lobbyists, CSO Jedi Mentors, teachers, and parents.  There were over 200+ CSO’s that represented schools from all over Arizona and they were split up into eight groups.  The purpose of the day was teach the kids about how they could present ideas to our government and personally impact AZ’s STEM education.
       In the first session, “I want to make life better in Arizona”, the CSO’s came up with a “pitch” idea that they would work on throughout the day and later pitch to our Governor, Doug Ducey.  In the second session, “How does an Idea become law-ready in Arizona?”, the CSO’s refined their proposals by adding supporting details such as including stakeholders, defining cost, and listing opposing views and their responses.  In the third and final session, “How to present ideas to relative stakeholders”, the student were able to interact with real world lobbyists to help write letters and record videos on why their proposals were important and should be heard.  The day ended with the eight teams proposing their idea to Governor Doug Ducey.  He was gracious enough to spend his time listening to the kids and providing his feedback to each team.  Roan and his team pitched a mobile app that would help with public safety while Priya and her team pitched a state STEM field trip day for all students.  
       Both Roan and Priya did a fantastic job and it was very inspiring to see the future leaders of our state and country in action!  The CSO program is doing a great job to help promote STEM education and I am grateful that Sonoran Foothills is actively participating in this wonderful program.
    -Bett Abraham 
    Parent Chaperone