Louisiana State Representative Visits Great Hearts Harveston

Great Hearts Harveston welcomed Louisiana State Representative Emily Chenevert as a special guest in a continued celebration of Freedom Week and Constitution Day. Representative Chenevert toured the academy and spoke to the sixth graders about the U.S. Constitution, state legislature, and the important role government plays in protecting our freedoms.

Representative Chenevert, elected in 2023, serves on several key committees and is actively involved in causes that protect the most vulnerable in our communities, including victims of human trafficking. Before entering public service, she worked in media and film with major studios like Universal and FOX, bringing with her a strong background in communication and journalism.

“During her visit, she shared with our students why the Constitution is so vital to our country, encouraging them to reflect on how it strengthens our nation and preserves our freedoms,” shared Head of School Drew Thomas. “Our sixth graders engaged in thoughtful discussion, asked questions, and left with a deeper understanding of the principles that guide our democracy.”

The visit included a tour of the entire campus and allowed Representative Chenevert the opportunity to sit in on two classes. “One was a sixth-grade literature and composition class where she saw students beginning to engage in a very Socratic way with a key text here in our Great Heart’s curriculum, the novel Shane,” shared Thomas. “She got to see all students engaged in discussion and to really begin to read literature as literature. We were also able to show her a fourth-grade math class, a Singapore math class, and to see the student engagement and interaction there.”

Representative Chenevert was inspired by what she witnessed. “One thing I noticed is that they were so attentive,” she shared. “They asked some of the greatest questions. Some of their questions were even more intense than some of the committee meetings that I have at the Capital.”

While impressed by the quality education the academy offered, she admitted she had done her homework before the visit. “I went to the website, and I looked at the book list and I will just tell you, as a legislator and also as a mom of kids, to have an environment where so many of the books I think are forgotten, they’re not forgotten here. That is something that I was very impressed with. And so, I kind of had a little I guess you would say bit of a precursor of what I was looking for when I got here. And I did see a lot of that from the paintings on the wall to book lists to the engagement in the classroom.”

Thomas was grateful to Representative Chenevert for taking the time to invest in the students and for helping the academy bring the study of civics and history to life in such a meaningful way. “Our students are going to be more and more exposed to these old documents as they go through our Great Hearts curriculum,” he explained. “And so, for sixth graders, they know now that the Constitution is extremely important. They have had a personal interaction with a state representative. I really hope that they’re looking forward to diving into those types of documents, the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution in the coming years, especially in ninth grade when they go through it more thoroughly in our Humane Letters class.”

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Submit a student application to a Great Hearts Academy by visiting: https://www.greatheartsamerica.org/enroll/.