PECHS students Alexander Ash and Koen King heard back from Capitol Hill this week. As part of an assignment in their Civic’s Literacy class, Mr. Randall Patton (PECHS Teacher) had his students write letters to various representatives about an issue they were passionate about with the option of mailing their letter once the assignment was graded. Alexander Ash chose to write to President Joe Biden on the importance of our environment and how we need to protect it. To Alexander’s surprise, President Joe Biden responded to his letter. In his response, President Biden said “our land, sea, and air are some of our most precious resources, and I believe we have a sacred duty to preserve America’s natural wonders for all time and for all people.”
Koen King chose to write to North Carolina’s 7th District House Representative David Rouzer on the issue of PFAS in the Lower Cape Fear River Region. Congressman Rouzer also wrote back stating “to help improve water quality in our state and across the country, my Democrat colleague, Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-ME-01) and I, joined together to introduce bipartisan legislation. If enacted, H.R. 1721, the Healthy H2O Act, will help those with private wells identify contaminants, including GenX chemicals, as well as other PFAS/PFOS compounds in their drinking water. Additionally, the legislation will set up a grant to help offset the cost of purchasing and installing effective water filtration systems to remove forever chemicals.”
Teaching students to be an advocate for their beliefs is an important lesson, especially in Civic Literacy. Thanks to both President Biden and Congressman Rouser for responding to these students acknowledging that their voices were heard.