Annual Advocacy Day – A Success! | By: Committee for Children On Wednesday, February 8, 2018, Committee for Children held their annual Advocacy Day. In spite of snow, sleet, and rain (no flooding or pestilence, thankfully), CFC took a hearty crowd of 20 people to meet with 34 legislators and/or their staff. We were very lucky to have a number of young people go with us this year as well; they are always the stars of the show! Committee for Children focused on one aspect of our state legislative agenda for Advocacy Day— promoting Social Emotional Learning. Currently, there are several pieces of legislation (including HB 1518) that address incorporating SEL into more out of school settings and continuing the work of the SEL Benchmarks Group in developing standards and indicators to assess social-emotional skills in the classroom. One 10-year-old attending Advocacy Day with her mom explained her classroom’s method of calming down – “breathe in the soup, blow on the soup to cool it down”. We hope to see that legislator using the method himself in committee meetings and on the floor during debates and votes! Committee for Children had three presentations between legislative meetings during the day. Rep.Tana Senn spoke about her SEL legislation, HB 1518; Rep. Ruth Kagi talked about co-chairing the Governor’s Blue Ribbon Commission that recommended a new state Department of Children, Youth and Families; and Associate Superintendent Gil Mendoza from the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) spoke about how Washington State formulated its plan for the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), the new federal education law that gives states more responsibility and accountability. Joan Duffell, CFC’s Executive Director, started us all off with an excellent introduction of the day. And, our state lobbyist, Melanie Smith, helped place the meetings and messaging in perspective. It was a successful day all around and made possible by the work of many volunteers, board members, and CFC staff. We hope to have many of you join us next year! Want to keep up-to-date on current policy topics? Visit our Policy & Advocacy Page.