On Monday, April 21, 5th District Rep. Michael Baumgartner stopped by Stevens Elementary School to visit classrooms and field questions from student leaders.
“When I was in D.C. for the School Counselor of the Year celebration, I invited our U.S. Representative to come visit the amazing students and staff at Stevens Elementary and shine a light on the important work school counselors in SPS and Washington state are doing every day,” said Stevens counselor (and 2024 state counselor of the year) Fondra Magee.
Just in time for National Student Leadership Week (April 21-25), Rep. Baumgartner met with Stevens’ Student Leadership members, who asked questions like:
“Did you think about doing this job when you were younger?”
“What did you do to become a member of Congress?”
“Did you have to go to school to do your job?”
“How much money do you make?”
“How old do you have to be to be in Congress?”
In response to, “Do you like your job?” Rep. Baumgartner said while new and challenging, he’s really enjoying it.
“It’s a different kind of job, because you learn a lot and you have to be responsible for a lot of things,” he said. “Sometimes when you’re a politician not everybody is happy with you, and people aren’t always nice about it, which is unfortunate, but you try and do your best to help people.”
Rep. Michael Baumgartner visits Stevens Elementary School by Spokane Schools
He explained that every two years, voters decide whether to keep their representative or pick someone new. “Maybe it’ll be your turn someday,” he told the questioner.
“Is it hard to be away from your family when you go to Washington D.C.?” another student leader asked.
Being away so much is an adjustment, he said, but he and his family are learning to take it in stride. He shared that all five of his kids attend Spokane Public Schools.
“You’re really lucky to be in Spokane,” he told the group. “You have a lot of really great schools and people here value education a lot, so you have a lot of good teachers and people who care about you. We should always be grateful of that, because not everybody has those advantages.”
Mrs. Magee said she’s currently working with Senator Maria Cantwell’s staff to hopefully arrange a visit later in the Spring or early Fall.