The CHPC, which began in 1982 and brings up to a 100 student journalists and their advisers to the state capitol to hear from and question government officials, is back on Monday, March 2. Due to heavy demand for hearing rooms, our event will begin EARLY, prior to the senate and house convening for the day.
The event begins at 7:30 a.m., in the Old Supreme Court Chambers, with a quick introduction and explaining of procedures. All registration is online using this link, and there are no additional costs for CSMA member schools. Students MAY attend without their advisers, but advisers MUST complete the online registration form by Friday, Feb. 29. We welcome parents as chaperones at no cost.
Rep. Barbara McLachlan (D-Durango) will be our first speaker, at 7:45 a.m. She is the House Education Committee chair and is the lead sponsor of HB20-1062, our bill adding explicit adviser protection to the 1990 Colorado Student Free Expression law. She is in her second term and can provide insights into a range of issues. She is a strong proponent of adding media literacy education to the public school curriculum.
Our second speaker is Sen. Paul Lundeen (R-Senate District 9, El Paso county), who is the Minority Whip and a member of the Senate Education and the Finance committees. He also is a veteran legislator with broad knowledge of issues students may be concerned about.
Both speakers will respond to questions from students in a press conference set up.
We must vacate the room NLT 9:30 a.m.
We recommend reserving a time for a free tour of the capitol building from 10 a.m. on. Here is the link with the information you need.
We also recommend that you contact your state representative and senator to ask about access to the floor of either chamber and to set up separate interviews with your legislators, if time permits. Don’t wait to contact them, with email normally the best method. You can find contact information for all Colorado legislators here.
We offer writing contests, as well as a video contest and photojournalism contest, for attendees, with a deadline of March 5. All entries are online and details will be emailed to advisers.
Here are the links to the four contests covering the day:
