John Scarffe, Gilpin County. Five students from Gilpin County Schools participated in the 21st annual Legislative Day sponsored by the Colorado Association for Gifted and Talented on Thursday, February 20, 2020.

The students and Sunshine Vincent, secondary instructional coach, gifted education coordinator and information literacy center coordinator, left the school in a short bus at 6:30 a.m.

The students said it was obnoxiously early. They arrived at the Colorado State Capitol in Denver at 7:15 a.m. 

The Colorado Association for Gifted and Talented (CAGT) believes that all humans have an inherent right to develop their full potential, according to their website. CAGT fosters an understanding of all gifted children and their exceptional needs, and advocates for appropriate education and affective support through partnerships with educators, families, students, administrators, legislators and the general public.

CAGT’s vision is to assure that gifted children grow socially, emotionally and academically to become well-adjusted, contributing members of society. CAGT is a nonprofit advocacy organization with a 40-year history of providing information, leadership and support to gifted young people, their families and educators of gifted young people in Colorado. 

CAGT organizes Legislative Day on the Thursday after Presidents’ Day each February, according to the website. It allows eight-to-12-grade students only and is a unique opportunity to shadow a state legislator for the day. 

The application process opened the first week of January, and gifted adult advocates have an opportunity to learn about current legislative initiatives that affect gifted children. The deadline for Student Shadow Application and Registration was January 24, and the 2020 registration deadline for adults and gallery students was January 31. 

Sunny Vincent said the students had to write a paragraph about an issue to qualify, and then the students were matched with legislators who have the same views. The students also needed a teacher and parent recommendation. 

“It was not an easy process to apply and they all had to work in order to apply for the opportunity to shadow a legislator,” Vincent said. About 130 students from all over the state of Colorado applied, and some couldn’t get a legislator, so they sat in the gallery, but those matched with a legislator sat on the floor, Vincent said.

 2020 Shadow Students met CAGT representatives at the Capitol in the morning. All other students and chaperones met at the Scottish Rite Masonic Hall. 

Attendees started checking in a 7 a.m. on February 20 and then participated in a required orientation for Student Shadows and Gallery Groups from 7:45 a.m. to 8:15 a.m. The legislative session opened at 9 a.m. with a guest speaker presentation at 9:30 a.m., and then students attended a question and answer session with the legislatures in which the shadowing and gallery students were able to ask questions about any issues they were curious about. “It was very informative,” Vincent said. 

Attendees had lunch with the legislators and lobbyists in two sessions starting at 11:25 a.m. and 12:55 p.m. followed by a Legislator Question and Answer session from 12:05 p.m. to12:50 p.m. The event concluded with an opportunity to observe committee hearings at the Capitol from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., and student pick up at 2:30 p.m. 

Vincent said the students heard a whole session in morning and then committee meetings with legislators. The Gallery students took a tour of the capitol. 

Four Gilpin Schools students shadowed legislators, and eighth-grade student Ben Zeckser sat in the gallery. 

Esmee Halsted, 10th grade, also works for the Weekly Register-Call newspaper and serves as an intern for Jonathan Singer, who was appointed in January 2012 as a Democrat to fill the vacancy in House District 11, which includes most of Longmont, as well as Northwest Boulder, part of Niwot and part of Gunbarrel. He resides in Longmont. Halsted usually volunteers on Friday, because students don’t go to school on Friday. She was glad that she got to experience working on a Thursday during legislative day. 

Freshman Sasha Sonsino shadowed Senator Tammy Story, who was elected to the Colorado State Senate in 2018. She currently serves as Vice Chair of the Senate Education Committee and as a member of the Business, Labor, and Technology Committee. Sonsino said she got to talk to Story, and serving on the legislature might be something she would like to do that in the future.

Freshman Zachariah Gebhart shadowed Monica Duran, state legislator for House District 24, which includes Wheat Ridge, Edgewater, Mountain View, Lakeside and Golden. Gebhart said he learned how the legislative branch works in Colorado. 

Freshman Aucklynn Sacco shadowed Christopher J. Hansen, who was elected to the Colorado House of Representatives as a Democrat in 2016 and re-elected in 2018. Hansen represents State House District 6, which encompasses part of east Denver. In January 2020, Hansen resigned his state house seat to fill a vacancy in the Colorado Senate that opened up when Lois Court resigned. He was sworn into the District 31 senate seat on January 21, 2020.

Sacco said it seemed like just a normal work day for the legislators, except the students were chasing them around. “It was a good experience. It was interesting seeing how the government works.” 

Sacco hopes to intern at the Capitol and has been exploring possibilities. Vincent said it was a very interesting day, hearing about issues at the state level. 

“The kids thought it was a cool experience. They were asking Halsted about how she got in as an intern. It was neat to see the excitement in their conversations after the event,” Vincent said.

For more information log onto the CAGT website, www.coloradogifted.org, or email cogifted@gmail.com.

(Originally published in the March 12, 2020, print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)