Student Letters to the Utah Legislature

Spencer Duncan, a drama teacher at Elk Meadows Elementary School in Jordan School District, encouraged his students to write thank-you letters to send to the Utah State Legislature. He wrote:

Dear Utah State Legislature,

Enclosed are 13 letters representing our school’s 700+ young voices.

When someone gives you a gift, it’s important to say thanks. Our Elk Meadows Elementary students thank you for your ongoing support of the Beverly Taylor Sorenson Arts Learning Program, known as BTS Arts. While students followed a template in writing, you’ll see they had complete freedom as what to write and whether or not they wanted to send their letters.

As a K-6th grade theatre-integration teacher, I use drama-based teaching methods to help students learn a wide range of core standards and social skills. If all does as it should, I will have the privilege of mentoring these kids on a weekly basis for seven years of their lives. I look forward to what they will do as adults.

Our students really enjoy this arts-integrated form of education. Whether we’re learning language arts through storyboards and personal narratives, ecology through puppetry, or world culture by acting out various myths, we seem to have a good time. I was honestly touched to find out so many students valued our theatre time. I knew they loved our class; I had no idea they’d start to write a book, came to school, or had developed a sense of belonging because of our BTS Arts class. It is too bad more states do not have a grant such as ours.

Dozens more students wanted to share what they’d written you, but considering your time, I thought this sampling of letters would suffice. I am very proud of these young leaders. They give their thanks; I thank you for listening to them.

Sincerely,

Spencer Duncan

Below you will find the letters that were sent to our legislators. We are proud of them for voicing their gratitude and encouraging our legislatures to continue funding for our amazing BTS Arts programs!