GCHS students had an opportunity to ask Gov. Cox question about concerns they have.
NORTH LOGAN — Excitement could be felt in the gymnasium as Green Canyon High School students waited anxiously for Utah Governor Spencer Cox’s visit as part of his statewide “Connecting Utah” tour Tuesday morning.
Cox said he wanted to visit different schools around the state to meet students, ask questions, and let them ask a few of him. Cox acknowledged he heard many students are concerned about the future and many events happening around the state, country and world.
“There is so much positivity but they’re not seeing that,” Cox told Cache Valley Daily. “My hope was that spending time with young people, helping them remember what makes our country so great and what makes our state so great would help them as they’re looking forward to their future.”
As a Utah State University alumnus, Cox said he was excited to be back to Cache Valley and to address the concerns he has heard from many students.
“This is an incredible valley,” Cox said. “It’s been so great to come home and to see this next generation of young people that are coming up. I’m very optimistic about the future of our state as I meet with these students.”
Cox said the students’ generation is different from previous generations because information and news are at the tip of their fingers with phones and other mobile devices.
“I know you have concerns and they are valid concerns,” Cox said. “What you need to know is we are not helpless.”
One of the main reasons students are worried, according to Cox, is out of the 575 bills passed in this legislative session they are only exposed to about four or five controversial bills being discussed during the session.
Cox highlighted the efforts the legislature and his office have made to improve education, the workforce, living cost and addressing the drought.
“You are getting a better education than I got when I was your age,” Cox said. “There are more opportunities for you right now than any time in the history of our state, you have better teachers now than any time in the history of our state. You have this amazing, beautiful facility; a facility that your parents and grandparents could only dream about.”
After the opening remarks, five GCHS students were invited to sit with Cox and ask him a question each.
GCHS freshman Daniella Lopez asked Cox about House Bill 374 which prohibits sensitive instructional materials in schools.
Although freedom of speech is an important right for Americans, Cox said it was important to find the right balance between age-appropriate materials and having different viewpoints to learn from.
“There have been books in our schools that are certainly not appropriate,” Cox said. “We also, again, need to make sure that we don’t go too far and start taking books out of libraries just because we disagree with maybe the author’s point of view.”
Junior Logan Nash asked the governor about the actions the state is taking to combat climate change.
According to Cox, over the past 15 years, the level of harmful emissions in the state have been reduced despite the increase in population.
Cox also said the legislature and his office are working to promote the purchase of electric vehicles.
“We have big investments that are coming into electric vehicle infrastructure,” Cox said. “What you will see over the next couple of years is you will see electric vehicle charging stations coming up, especially in rural Utah all across the state.”
Once the students asked their questions, Cox then asked the students a few questions including the best and worst parts of high school and something the students are worried about the future.
After the panel of students answered their questions, Cox addressed the rest of the student body and asked to think about a word to describe the country. Most of the students said they thought of a negative word.
On average, Cox said the schools he had visited had answered with ten negative words to one positive. He said that conflict is important in our society but it was important to discuss differences without tearing each other down.
“Conflict is important in any republic like ours,” Cox said. “Conflict is critical but healthy conflict is important. We can debate without tearing down. We can disagree without hating each other.”
After Cox concluded the visit, students were able to take pictures with the governor. Freshman Daniella Lopez said she felt like she was seen and her voice was heard because she was able to directly ask Cox her question.
Lopez said it was exciting to see the governor take the time to listen to the students since they will be the decision makers before too long.
“We are the future,” Lopez said. “We need to make sure that everyone at this age gets their voice heard because if we don’t hear each other’s voices, how are we supposed to be able to live in a world that we’re ok with?”
Lopez said the generations need to work together to improve the community and society.
“Right now, we are seeing chaos everywhere,” Lopez said. “We’re seeing division. We’re seeing people who are separated because of ideas and thoughts. We need to be united and the best way to be united is to make sure everyone’s voices are heard.”
GCHS Assistant Principal Phillip Morris said this visit was a great way to connect multiple generations. It was a great way for students to gain confidence and help the students feel seen because most of them don’t feel like they are seen or heard.
“That’s why he’s doing this is to give kids a chance to be seen,” Morris said. “If we can help kids to be seen then they’re going to get confidence over time and be able to continue to grow.”
Cox said he encourages everyone to become involved in the conversation in a respectful way. He said he encourages students, as well as other constituents to reach out to their representatives.
“I think they would be surprised at how many legislators, for example, are willing to listen to them and often just don’t hear from people,” Cox said. “You’d think (your voice) isn’t heard so you don’t try…when if you tried, you’d be maybe surprised…sometimes your voice gets heard.”
Cox also visited Rich High School and USU on Monday and Box Elder High School later in the day on Tuesday.
Cox told Cache Valley Daily he hopes this visit encourages students to become involved in democratic process and possibly run for office one day.
“We live in a participatory democratic republic and the system only works if people get involved,” Cox said. “None of these kids can vote yet but they will someday and I hope that they will care about what’s happening and pay attention.”