'No' vote from Bruce can't derail student campaign

DENVER - Colorado has a state tree, flower and mineral — and a state fossil and dance. It even has a state grass. So why not a reptile?

That was the question fifthgrader Horacio Duerte Bernal asked classmates at Skyline Vista Elementary School in Denver.

Tuesday, the students came to the Statehouse to propose that the Western painted turtle join the Colorado blue spruce, the columbine, rhodochrosite, stegosaurus, square dance and blue grama grass as official emblems of the state.

The turtle made it around the first curve when the House State, Veterans, and Military Affairs Committee endorsed the idea 9-1.

The lone opponent was Rep. Douglas Bruce, R-Colorado Springs.

Bruce did not comment during the discussion of the proposal but said later he considered it unnecessary and meritless.

“I didn’t want to lecture them and undercut the sponsor,” Bruce said. “We’re not here passing laws just to educate people about how to pass a law.”

Horacio said the idea came to him last year when his class was studying the state’s symbols.

Horacio noticed the list of 15 official items lacked a reptile, and he wanted to correct the oversight.

After consulting with friends and teachers, he sent a letter to his local state representative to find out what he would have to do to get the turtle approved.

“The letter was so well-written, and had such passion, and already had such research behind it that I was very clear that this was really going to happen,” Rep. Cherylin Peniston, D-Westminster, said.

Peniston, who used to teach in Skyline Vista’s school district, visited the school during the 2006-07 school year and explained how Horacio’s idea could become a law.

When she found out the students were still interested in pursuing it, she decided to give it her backing.

“The level of commitment and persistence that these kids showed, I thought was very unusual for this age group,” she said.

Teacher Jay Baichi said the effort was completely studentdriven, and that they worked on their project during lunch and recess.

The students picked the turtle because the reds and golds in its colorful shell evoke the state’s rocks and minerals.

It also had the advantage of living on the eastern and western sides of the state. What put the turtle over the top was its gentle nature and cuteness.

“I don’t want a poisonous or an odd-looking reptile to be the state reptile,” student Amy Loi said.

While the bill is a fun way to teach students how their government works, Peniston said there is a larger lesson to be learned.

“It’s about the best in a political process that allows easy access for its citizens, even as young as these, to make a change,” she said.

The bill will now be sent to the full House for debate. If it passes, the Senate will consider the issue, giving the students another chance to testify.

OFFICIAL STATE SYMBOLS

State Animal: Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep

State Bird: Lark Bunting

State Fish: Greenback Cutthroat Trout

State Flower: White and Lavender Columbine

State Folk Dance: Square Dance

State Fossil: Stegosaurus

State Gemstone: Aquamarine

State Grass: Blue Grama Grass

State Insect: Colorado Hairstreak Butterfly

State Song: “Where the Columbines Grow”

State Song: “Rocky Mountain High”

State Tartan: State Tartan

State Tree: Colorado Blue Spruce

State Mineral: Rhodochrosite

State Rock: Yule Marble

Source: Colorado Division of Information Technologies http://www.colorado.gov/dpa/doit/ archives/history/symbemb.htm