This year, eighth graders at Bellevue’s Open Window School have been learning about government, both federal and state.

In order to develop an understanding of how the Washington State Legislature works, students participated in numerous activities including a Mock Legislative Committee. An exciting opportunity came from partnering with TVW Capitol Classroom, which covers all legislative and judicial actions in Olympia. TVW partnered students with a contract lobbyist in Olympia to help choose three different bills to follow, focused on economic and environmental sustainability.

Students participated in a mock committee on drone regulation on March 22 – examining the government’s role with both environmental and economic sustainability. In a final session on May 5, the students will be debating whether nuclear energy should be considered an alternative energy source, and thus eligible for tax reductions.

Corey Paulson, the teacher, has been named one of Washington’s top civic educators.

A previous version of this story incorrectly referred to the Bellevue school as Open Windows School. The Reporter strives for accuracy and regrets the error.