Eighth-Grader Takes Selfie with Gov. Rauner

Submitted by Grace Wittbrodt-Betz, eighth-grader at Oak Lawn Hometown Middle School
Photo: Grace Wittbrodt-Betz takes a selfie with Governor Bruce Rauner.

Hello,
My name is Grace Wittbrodt-Betz and I am an 8th grader at Oak Lawn Hometown Middle School. Just recently I took a trip to Springfield, IL with select individuals from the ages of 14-19 that live throughout the state of Illinois.

These individuals, including myself are all apart of a nation wide program called 4-H. 4-H is a youth organization administered by the University of Illinois Extension, with the mission of “engaging youth to reach their fullest potential, while advancing the field of youth development”. In other words, 4-H is a youth run organization where youth from the ages of 14-19 are in a club that encourages them to become leaders, public speakers, mentors, and responsible people.

I had to apply to get on a team called Speaking for Illinois 4-H (SFI4-H). This team travels around the state speaking to legislators, county boards, and state officials about the program. My mom and I drove down to Springfield Monday, March 23rd, and stayed in a hotel to be up and to the capitol by 7:45 a.m. on Tuesday morning.

When you get to the capitol you have to go through security, which is basically the same as airport security. Then we met up with the group and were assigned our partners for the day. We had to call our assigned legislators’ secretary’s and make appointments to meet them sometime throughout the day.

My partner and I had to chase down 13 different legislators on Tuesday. We had to take underground tunnels from the capitol building to the Stratton building. The Stratton building was where the House of Representatives and the Senators were. All day we had to travel between those two buildings and try to make our appointments.

When I was on my way to go up and meet with Senator Bill Cunningham, the elevator opened and a security guard came out. He looked and let my mom and I on the elevator, but before I knew it someone was shaking my hand. I looked up and was shaking hands with Bruce Rauner! He was very polite.

The next day I got another partner and we had to go visit eight more legislators, plus meet the Governor and the Lieutenant Governor all in one day. Once again, we had to call all of the secretaries and make our appointments. At 10:00 am we met with the Governor, everyone took a selfie with him, and the funny part was that he suggested that he wanted a selfie with all of us.

We finished our final rounds around 4:00 pm, and hit the road home. It’s about a three hour drive from Springfield to my house, so we were home around 8:00 pm. I got ready for school the next day and was up early again the next morning. Between my two days at the capitol I walked approximately 5 miles total, around the buildings and back and forth between them. That was my experience of my two days at the State Capitol.