On Thursday, June 9th, PJCC SGA President Keena Espinoza participated in “Mentor a Job Corps Student” Day. The day was designed to expose students to various components of a congressional district office including but not limited to: constituent services, legislative policy, office management, and communications.

Keena had the honor of visiting the office of Congressman Ed Pastor (D-4-AZ) 8th Term, Committee: Appropriations. During her visit Keena spent time with staff members learning the office operations and the public communication demanded from the office daily. Keena had the pleasure of enjoying lunch with the Congressman’s staff.

Also, Keena was fortunate enough to participate in a press conference for the release of the research paper, “To Learn to Earn: Arizonan’s Experiences in the Race for Good Jobs”.   The press conference was held by the Morrison Institute for Public Policy at University Center, ASU Downtown Campus. Keena attended the press conference with Elisa de la Vara, District Director Office of Congressman Ed Pastor.

The research paper is based upon more than 400 interviews with students, young adult workers, parents, school counselors and employers across Arizona. It shines a spot light in the deep connections between the success of our P-20 education system and the economy. The fourteen recommendations resulting in this research are organized under three critical goals:

Goal One: Promote a thriving Arizona “educonomy” through strategies directed by integrated and aligned workforce and education pipeline data

Goal Two: Create and promote a new culture of achievement for all Arizonans by redefining the state’s college-ready and career-ready achievement standards across all age groups to include a strong foundation in workplace, academic, and applied skills

Goal Three: Engage all Arizonans in the culture of achievement through expansion of programs proven to enhance in-school and on-the-job success

Here are Keena’s thoughts about the day:

Question: How was your day?
Keena: Great!  Very eye opening experience!  The staff was very friendly, accommodating to my visit, love their jobs, very open to sharing their positions with me and what they do. Overall, the experience was educational and enlightening

Question: What did you think about the Press Conference?
Keena: What caught my attention is when they spoke about schools in Arizona being rated the lowest in the U.S. My comment was, instead of just looking at the numbers, we need to work on developing better communication with high school students and post secondary students on the value of their education and the importance it plays in their future. Too many things in our system our process driven and not people motivated.

Question: One thing you learned about the office of an elected official?
Keena: The importance of a college degree. To be a part of this type of opportunity or to be a member of their staff you must go to college. These are the people who are making things happen, it would be great to have an opportunity like this, being part of changing a law or even the opportunity of starting a new one.

Question: How do you believe Congressman Pastor serves his community?
Keena: He is very involved, as well as his staff.   He provides great support for the Mortgage Resources and Mortgage Fraud, fraud alerts to protect people from scams, involved in Veterans Affairs and Youth Initiatives. I feel very fortunate he is a great community partner, allowing me to be a part of the Jobs Corps Mentor Day in his office.  I would love to visit and be a part of this experience again.