Senator Telfer visits Sisters Middle School

Paul Patton's eighth-grade U.S. History class welcomed Republican State Senator Chris Telfer for an informative, informal breakfast chat. Students settled into their seats and munched on mini-muffins and fruit as Telfer addressed the semi-sleepy class.

"Good morning everyone on a nice chilly morning," she said, explaining the basics of her job as an Oregon State Senator.

Telfer went through the inception process of drafting a bill into law and presenting it to the legislative council and all the various committees it must pass along the political route, from the senate floor to the governor's desk. An accountant in Bend, she is serving her first four-year term in the state senate and is currently running for re-election.

"The catch is knowing all these processes the bill has to go through and work with my opposition to get it passed," she said. "There's a lot of hard work that transpires in the legislature."

She also dissected the state's monetary funds and the source of all state spending.

"There's three buckets of money in the State of Oregon: the General Fund, roughly $14 billion, derived from state income taxes and lottery funds. The second, the State Budget Fund, is comprised of all types of fees collected from tickets and licenses, about $10 billion, and the last is the Federal Budget Fund, money that comes from stimulus money, federal gas taxes and assorted federal dollars that are allocated to schools. It's a lot of money but it's still not enough."

Telfer asked the class why they thought eighth-graders should even care about their elected officials.

"I represent you here in Deschutes County, and you can actually email me or call me and tell me why a law should be changed," she said.

Student teacher Ashlee Larkin organized the event as part of satisfying one aspect of her state teaching requirements.

"This is my first endeavor to plan a two-week educational unit, one of the state standards," she said. "We have to do a work sample of a prospective lesson covering one area of state and national government. I think it's hard for young people to understand government since it's something that feels distant and far off. Inviting a state senator makes it a little more real for them. The kids made posters and we did Telfer Trivia in class last week in preparation. I tried as much as I could to make it be their thing. They were all really excited about it and even got to see online where her daily calendar showed her visit to Sisters Middle School."

When asked by the class what changes she'd make to government if she could, Telfer answered that she would make it non-partisan.

"It's not whether you are Democrat or Republican, but what you believe in," she said. "Get rid of the parties and learn how to get along and learn how to compromise.

"The most fun thing about my job is talking to people and hearing what they have to say. When Congress is in session they are long days and you live in 15-minute blocks of time and there's a lot of homework and a lot to read. I have many young people who come to see me in Salem at the capitol, and let me tell you... I put on the best tour. If you want to come and visit just let me

know."

Teacher Paul Patton commended Larkin for her dedication in putting the event together.

"I think Ashlee taking the initiative to do this shows the promise she has as a future teacher and it's a credit to the program at Portland's George Fox University and their Master of Arts teaching program," he said.

After Telfer's talk, students took her on their own grand tour of Sisters Middle School before she left for other appointments.