He and two other Delta High students spoke Wednesday to Washington state senators on the merits of their school and the science- and technology-related curriculum.
But rather than traveling to Olympia, they sat in a recently renovated classroom at Columbia Basin College and looked into a camera.
“It was a little nerve-wracking,” Abraham said afterward, smiling.
The Delta High students and Mid-Columbia school officials, education advocates and CBC students were the first to use a new remote testimony system to provide information to the state Senate’s Committee on Trade & Economic Development.
The new connection with Olympia was lauded even before the day’s meeting was over. Another hearing using the system is already scheduled for next week.
“No excuses now for this not to be used consistently from the Tri-Cities,” said Jason Mercier, an official with conservative policy think tank Washington Policy Center.
Remote testimony has been used in the past in state government hearings — but exclusively to help experts to testify, not the general public.
Sen. Mike Padden, R-Spokane Valley, called for a remote testimony facility in Spokane so his constituents could more easily reach out to the Legislature. That led to the consideration of other testimony sites, specifically on community college campuses, around the state.
Wednesday’s meeting was a work session of the committee, which is chaired by state Sen. Sharon Brown, R-Kennewick, specifically to discuss the issues and needs around science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, education.
A few people testified in the committee meeting room in Olympia but the majority were in the Tri-Cities, filling a room in the CH2M Hill Technology Center on the northeast end of CBC’s Pasco campus.
Abraham, junior Nelly Garibaldo and senior Arthur Baranovskiy spoke about why they chose to attend Delta High, a STEM high school operated by the Pasco, Kennewick and Richland school districts.
They fielded questions about their experiences, as well as whether they get to study robots and rockets or a new field a lawmaker called “mechatronics” that’s a mashup of electrical and mechanical engineering.
“I love (Delta High’s) small community and getting to know the teachers,” Nelly said. “They really are dedicated to you.”
CBC President Rich Cummins told the committee how community and technical colleges are engines of social mobility, particularly when it comes to STEM careers. The director and two students with the college’s Math Engineering Science Achievement program, which aims to bring more minorities and those from low-income backgrounds into the sciences, spoke to their experiences.
Overall, anyone who addressed the committee noted that STEM education is necessary for the state and today’s students to succeed in the future and lawmakers need to help them.
“I would just encourage you all to be bold and to do more,” said Tom Yount, board president of the Washington State STEM Education Foundation.
There were a few logistical issues that came up during the meeting, including making sure everyone addressing the committee was in view of the camera. But no one complained.
“I think it’s really exciting that policymakers want to hear from us,” said Delta High Principal Jenny Rodriquez.
©2015 Tri-City Herald (Kennewick, Wash.)
