Senator Kate Sullivan Visits Orchard For Constitution Day

By Natalie Bruzon
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Constitution Day may not be the most celebrated days of the year, but a special visitor to Orchard on Monday added to the excitement.

However, this year Clearwater-Orchard had an exciting assembly to learn more about the Nebraska Constitution.

The special speaker? Senator Kate Sullivan.

On Monday, Clearwater-Orchard had the unique pleasure of welcoming District Senator Kate Sullivan to the Orchard site, where she answered students’ questions and talked about how senators work so the Nebraska constitution represents all Nebraska citizens.

Senator Sullivan began the assembly by sharing a little about herself. 

“I’m from Cedar Rapids,” began the Senator. “I’ve been there for a long time. I raised two girls and I have three grandchildren, two of them who are not so far away from me, they’re in Albion. So when I’m not doing this, I enjoy being a grandma.”

Sullivan grew up on a farm in Valley County, about three hours from Orchard, and she still visits her childhood home often. Aside from completing her duties as senator, Sullivan also dedicates some of her work hours to the bank in Cedar Rapids and is often volunteering in her community. 

Following her short introduction, the floor was opened to students, who came up class by class to share their questions. 

Throughout the half-hour assembly, Senator Sullivan emphasized that any student in the gym could go on to be a senator in the future. 

“I’m quite sure, as I look out across this room, one day, one of you quite possibly is going to be a state senator. The first requirement is, you have to be interested in Nebraska. You have to care about Nebraska and care about its future.” 

Senator Sullivan’s own inspiration to run for public office came from her late father, a farmer. 

“He loved being a farmer, but more than that he loved Nebraska and he loved his community” Sullivan explained. “I can remember when I was little there was a gravel road by our farm, and my father thought, ‘You know what, we need better roads out there.’ So he worked with the senator from that area, went to Lincoln several times to talk with the department of roads and other state senators, and eventually we had a nice highway that went past our farm, Highway 70. And I saw how hard my father worked on that, and the benefits. That inspired me, and I just kept that in my heart for a long, long time.”

Years later, Senator Sullivan is wrapping up her second and final term as a Nebraska Senator. 

During that time, Sullivan served in the educational committee, using her passion for accessible education to help improve the way Nebraska offers education. 

“For the past four years, I have been the chairman of the education committee,” said Sullivan. “And I am very proud to be the chairman of that committee. Every year, I was responsible for dealing with bills that have to do with how we’re going to fund our public schools.”

Funding education is mandatory per the state constitution, Sullivan said. During the assembly, Sullivan stressed the importance of Nebraska’s constitution, and how it affects Nebraskans’ daily lives. 

The senator emphasized that her main role is to listen to her district and write bills which represent their concerns and needs. Representing their constituents is a state senator’s priority. 

“We have some really long days that we put in,” Sullivan explained. “If you’ve been to the state capitol in Lincoln, and we happen to be working while you were there, you would have seen us in a big room called the George Norris Chamber . . . we all have name plates so we know where to sit, and right by that name plate we have three buttons. There’s a red button, a green button and a blue button . . . the other two are by far the most important. The green button is if I’m going to vote yes on a bill we’re discussing, and the red one is if I’m going to vote against it. Believe me, sometimes those decisions are very hard, because I know that every bill that we act on is on one way or another going to make a difference in the lives of some Nebraskans, so I take that responsibility very seriously.”

Senators in the state directly affect the Nebraska State Constitution, which in turn directly affects Nebraskan residents. The days spent in session in Lincoln are a time for senators to bring new bills or amended bills to the table to be voted on. 

What does a typical day at the office look like for a senator? Well, when the senate is in session in Lincoln it looks like 10-12 hours of meetings. However, on a regular day Senator Sullivan enjoys getting to know her district. 

“What’s one of my favorite parts of being a senator? Well coming to see you guys!” exclaimed the Senator with a smile. “When I’m not in Lincoln and we’re not in session, I try to travel the district and meet with constituents, meet with the schools. In fact, when I leave here today I’m going to Neligh and meeting with two superintendents. So that’s a big part of my life but it’s one of the best jobs, because I don’t think that there’s a better place in the whole world to live than Nebraska and we have some great people in District 41 and I’m very proud to represent them. And in order to represent them I’ve gotta get out and talk to them and see what’s on their minds and what they’re concerned about.”

Listening to the Senator talk about Nebraska government and constitution was an impactful way for students to experience Constitution Day.

Orchard Principal Cathy Cooper was excited for the assembly, which was organized by Jana Wilhelm.

“Several years ago, Mrs. Wilhelm volunteered to take on the Constitution Day recognition, and she has been organizing these events every year,” said Cooper. “Of course, today’s celebration of Constitution Day was a great experience for our students because they not only learned more about the Constitution and our government, but they heard first hand the answers to their own questions about what our state senator does, how she views her own job and responsibilities to her constituents, and why education is so important in our state.”