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Student Leadership Academy offers deep dive into lawmaking

Five students from the University of Arkansas – Pulaski Technical College, Destiny Mbuthia, Sydney Romes, Regan Taylor, Kaley Osborne, and Sophia Kohlenberger Bazzi, attended the Arkansas Community College Student Leadership Academy in Little Rock, Arkansas April 15 and 16.

Both days were filled with exciting opportunities for the UA-PTC students to network with other Arkansas community college students, further develop their understanding of Arkansas state politics, and meet prominent state officials.

The students attended break-out sessions where students worked to create mock bills, present them to the “floor,” and debate their causes. Guest speakers from the Arkansas General Assembly included Representatives Grant Hodges (R, 14th District); Kendon Underwood (R, 16th District); and Arkansas State Representative and Senate-elect Jamie Scott (D, 72nd District). They shared the challenges and obstacles of working to propose, draft, present, debate, and send a bill to the governor’s desk to be signed into law.

The second day of the leadership academy was spent at the Arkansas State Capital, where the students attended a Joint Budget Committee hearing and were recognized by Arkansas State Senator Kim Hammer (R, District 16.) Tours of the House and Senate Chambers and the Arkansas State Treasury followed. They even got a photo with Arkansas State Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders. The participants knowledge and appreciation for the intricacies of our political system were greatly enhanced by the experience.

Pictured, from left: Sydney Romes, Destiny Mbuthia, Regan Taylor, Arkansas State Representative and Senate-elect Jamie Scott, Kaley Osborne, Sophia Kohlenberger Bazzi