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Explore Colorado's Capitol Building and Learn its Unique History

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Offsite: See session description for location (available after June 17), Offsite

Participate and share: Trip / Tour

Preregistration Required

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Presenters

Mindy Pesicek

Special Education Teacher

Franklin High School

Mindy Pesicek is a special education teacher at Franklin High School. She has taught in many countries like: S. Korea, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Chile and Ghana. Mindy Pesicek has undergraduate degrees in Biology and Philosophy and a Masters in Special Education. She recently got a grad certificate in Mind, Brain, and Teaching from Johns Hopkins University and is passionate about supporting neurodiverse students.

Session description

Step outside and join me for a historical tour of the Colorado Capitol Building. Inside we will marvel at the rose onyx and yule marble sourced locally, before walking up 99 stairs to the gold gilded dome. The history of Colorado will shine while we gaze upon the mountains. This tour will be meeting at the Big Blue Bear outside the front entrance of the Colorado Convention Center at 9:15am.

Purpose & objective

Although this tour is not technological, it will offer participants to learn more about Colorado while also connecting Colorado's history to their own home cities. My goal is for participants to see the beauty of Colorado during the tour and to also get inspired by being in the Capitol so they might hopefully visit their state's legislative offices. I know in education that big changes have occurred throughout the country and I hope that by touring the Capitol educators will feel more empowered to speak up for changes they want to see in their cities. Often educators do not have the time or energy to meet with their local government, but after the tour I will share how I have spoken to Senators and participated in bringing my high school students to speak to local government as well.
A successful tour will have participants learning abou the Capitol but also sharing with each other on the 16th street mall bus ride there and back what they hope to change in their states.

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Outline

I have already secured a spot with the Colorado Capitol's tour for June 24, 2024 at 10:00 a.m. 30 Attendees would meet me outside the convention center at 9:15 a.m. to go on a short bus ride up the 16th street mall. During this time, I will share points of interests for people to come back after the conference and give recommendations of places to eat. As we walk across Civic Park and towards the Capitol I will give educators time to discuss with each other issues that they are currently facing in their states and what policies they would like to discuss with their state government. We will arrive at the Capitol at 9:55 a.m. and go on the tour for an hour. If there is interest for a virtual attendance or more participants would like to join, I can use my phone to share the tour online.
At 11:00 a.m. we will walk back across the park and head towards the 16th street mall where I will share my own experience visiting the State Senators and local bills I have supported. I will give attendees ideas on how to get students involved in educational policies as I share what I have done in the past. As we take the 16th street mall bus back to the Convention Center, I will encourage attendees to reflect on what they have learned during the tour while also planning how they can incorporate this knowledge for the 2024-2025 school year. If any attendees would like more time discussing my experiences or collaborating about speaking to their state government, I would be happy to have lunch with them after the tour ends. There are no fees for this tour.

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Session specifications

Topic:

Teacher education

Audience:

Coaches, Teachers, Teacher education/higher ed faculty

Attendee devices:

Devices not needed

Participant accounts, software and other materials:

none are needed during the walking tour