Opportunities, patriotism in Lamborn visit to Coronado High civics class
Congressman Doug Lamborn hands a copy of
the U.S. Constitution to Sydnee Littau, a student in Coronado High School
teacher Jill Haffley's U.S. Government class. At far left, standing against the wall
is Coronado art teacher Wendy Foos.
Westside Pioneer photo
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Fifth District Congressman Doug Lamborn made a recent visit to a Coronado High civics classroom to hand out copies of the U.S. Constitution and discuss two student opportunities at the federal level.
The classroom teacher, Jill Haffley, has over the years guided student projects to record the stories of American military veterans, going back as far as World War II.
Answering questions from the class, Lamborn said his own patriotism was inspired by a “great civics teacher” and also by a class he took on the Constitution. This taught him to “love our country, even though I know it's not perfect,” he said.
One of the opportunities Lamborn mentioned is the Congressional Art Competition, through which Colorado student art is currently on display in
Standing in front of Coronado
High School teacher Jill Haffley's class, she and Congressman Doug Lamborn
respond to questions from her students.
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The other opportunity relates to Lamborn's authority as a Congress member to nominate 40 applicants to the nation's service academies each year (including the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs).
Haffley's class is titled U.S. Government. "It is a required class for graduation," she said. "We study the American political system. Currently we are working on the two-party system."
A student asked Lamborn how much stress there is working in Congress. Lamborn agreed that the job “has its ups and downs.” But in a recent experience, “I got to pin Purple Hearts on soldiers who were injured by IEDs,” he recalled. “That was very special.”
He does not favor the federal government establishing standards for public schools, Lamborn replied to another question. He described the Bush administration's No Child Left Behind directive, which started in the early 2000s, as ineffective. “We need to keep education on the state and local level,” he said.
The 5th Congressional District includes El Paso, Teller, Chaffee, Park and Fremont counties. Lamborn "proudly distributes hundreds of Constitutions each year," a press release states.
Westside Pioneer article
(Schools:
Coronado High School)
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