On October 18, Atwater Elementary’s fourth grade class hosted a visit with one of Wisconsin State Senators, Lena Taylor. Taylor engaged students in discussions of her position in the government, Juneteenth becoming a holiday, how a bill becomes a law, and the importance of youth voting. 

Kris Cryns, fourth grade teacher, has valued getting students involved in learning about Wisconsin government since the start of her career at Atwater.

Cryns continuously plays a lead role in attempting to bring influential guest speakers from around the state. 

“I have always had the state representative from Shorewood and from the State Assembly come and speak,” Cryns said. “The kids love seeing a real live person who is working to create these laws in the state of Wisconsin.”

As one of the fourth grade social studies units, students take a dive deep into Wisconsin history and government, ending with a class field trip to Madison. 

“We have been working on a Wisconsin government expedition, meaning that this is a larger, more in-depth unit that incorporates many different subject areas including: writing, reading, social studies and math,” Cryns said.

Cryns believes that showing young students that their voice matters is the primary goal of this unit, which finished with a written letter to an elected official about an issue of personal interest.

“[Students will write] a five paragraph essay about a change that [they] want to see happen, whether it be at the school level, district level, state level or even the federal level,” Cryns said. “We are going to research it, do some polling with kids on the playground and write a letter to whomever can invoke that change.”

Taylor has been a recipient of these student letters, as she represents the 4th senate district, which consists of portions of Shorewood, Wauwatosa, Glendale and Milwaukee. 

During her visit at Atwater, Taylor shared with students the importance of fighting for what they believe in, even if it takes time.

“I think [students] will have learned that [they] can make a difference, and I think they will have learned that their elected officials are accessible,” Taylor said. “I think they will have learned that the capitol is the people’s house and that they are the people, and it is their house.”

Taylor shared with students the details of her position, her experience and effort she put into making Juneteenth become a federal holiday. She then held a session for question and answer, and left students with an assignment at the end of her visit. Taylor was more than pleased with the results of her request. 

“I gave them [a task] to contact my office and ask for a Bluebook, and they did it within one hour,” Taylor said. “Young people were contacting my office to ask questions so that they could request their [State] Bluebooks, which blew me away.” 

For both their lives and ours, Taylor believes that helping young people engage is extremely valuable. 

“It was really something to watch different students with different needs be engaged. What I love is they get to take that away with them in a time when our democracy is so divided, and when things seem hopeless, that [good things] can happen,” Taylor said.

Cryns shares this view, and stresses the importance of teaching students about the importance of voting starting from a young age.

“It is important that younger students know that their voice matters. That voting is a right and responsibility, and that they can make a change even at this age,” Cryns said. 

This school year, students also participated in the “Get Out The Vote” campaign, in an effort to increase voter turnout in Shorewood. Cryns designed QR codes linked to Shorewood voting information on bookmarks, and distributed them to the Shorewood Public Library and community members.

Posters were made by the fourth graders and hung around the village, to spread as much awareness as possible, and this activity was heavily enjoyed by the students. 

“They loved the idea of having what they created out into the community to try and inspire people,” Cryns said.

As part of the government expedition, Atwater also hosted Wisconsin State Assemblyman, David Bowen, on November 11th, and Whitefish Bay’s Deb Andraca of the 23rd district on the 15th.