On Wednesday, February 26, 2025 the Newell Juniors and Seniors got on the bus and left for Pierre, SD at 5:00 am. John Heisler drove. They got to Pierre on time to meet with Monae Johnson, the secretary of state, in her office. She explained a little about what the SOS does and gave each one of us a book of the SD Constitution, a copy of the SD Seal, and gave Sabrina a Legislative Manual. After spending some time with her we took the opportunity to sit in on some morning meetings before taking a picture with the Governor. After pictures we headed to the visitor center.
The Whatever It Takes Coalition and the Juniors and Seniors hosted a luncheon and invited our local representative and the elected officials to join us. Each of them took a few minutes to explain what they are working on in Pierre or what the job entails. The students were able to ask questions and learn more about how politics works. After the lunch we were blessed to be able to tour the Mansion and then we took the time to sin in on the House of Representatives side for afternoon session and then the senate side.
The students felt it was important to stop at Pizza Ranch before heading home. Normally they are closed from 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm but they stayed opened so we could enjoy some pizza and chicken. It was a long day but every fun and educational.
Here are just a few comments from the students: Jamin Davidson: Thank you so much for today I had a blast and I never knew politics were so interesting in that type of way. Mr. Vander Vorst: Thank you for organizing and setting it up! The kids really enjoyed it. Tayla Neely: I thoroughly enjoyed the trip. I thought it was extremely interesting to spend time with the people making bills for our state. Jayden Tesch: I thought everything we did was good and I wouldn’t change anything. Jessica Raisanen: I really loved the day, thank you so much. I really liked the tour of the mansion. And I really liked the history with the blue tiles and heart tiles. Sabrina Harmon: This was a GREAT set of students.
Senator Sam Marty even praised them for dressing up and looking nice. I think they all enjoyed the day and they told me we need to continue to do this every year.
Read the full issue of the Belle Fourche Beacon by clicking here.
