[Scroll to the bottom for photo gallery]
On January 21st, Family Protection Ministries (FPM), assisted by Christian Home Educators Association (CHEA), held our annual Capitol Day event for homeschooling families! FPM has been hosting this event at the Sacramento Capitol building for almost 30 years.
The goal of Capitol Day is to provide information about private home education to our California state legislators and their staff in a friendly, professional manner. Through these visits, legislators and their staff—many of whom are not yet familiar with private home education—have the opportunity to meet real homeschool families. Capitol Day also serves to inform newly elected legislators and remind veteran lawmakers of the many benefits of private homeschooling, strengthen our working relationships with legislative offices, and provide legislators and their staff with a trusted resource should they ever have questions about private home education.
Our Capitol Day participants visited each of the 120 legislators’ offices and provided every office with an information packet about private homeschooling. In addition to explaining the legalities of private home education, these packets provide research showing that privately home-educated children excel academically when compared to their counterparts in public schools.
This year Capitol Day was a one-day event with training in the morning and inspirational speaking on the Capitol Steps in the afternoon! Attendees were required to attend a session of training to help equip them for legislative office visits. This helps ensure that homeschooling is represented well to state legislators.
Families also heard from an outstanding lineup of speakers, including STOA Executive Director Lynda Sloneker, HSLDA attorney Kevin Boden, Pastor to the California State Capitol Frank Erb, three California legislators, and FPM’s own Nathan Pierce. Each speaker challenged attendees to think biblically about civic engagement, parental rights, and the importance of preserving private homeschool freedom for future generations.
Skit Time!
This year’s “District Visits Gone Right and Wrong” skit was led by Nathan himself and five of his children. Legislative office visits are a vital part of homeschool advocacy giving legislators the opportunity to connect personally with homeschooling families. While these visits can feel intimidating, the skit, based on our “District Visits Gone Right and Wrong” resource pamphlet, provided a humorous comparison between an ineffective office visit and a successful one. By demonstrating both what to avoid and what to do, families were better equipped to represent homeschooling with confidence and professionalism.
At The Legislative Office Building
Families successfully visited nearly all 120 legislators’ offices in the Capitol Swing Space. In an exceptionally high percentage of offices, legislative staff and lawmakers spent more than five minutes speaking with the families. These meaningful conversations gave legislators and their staff the opportunity to connect personally with real homeschool families.
As groups completed their office visits, FPM staff gathered encouraging feedback from participants about each meeting. Several offices expressed appreciation that homeschoolers were not seeking government funding but were instead simply working to preserve the freedom of parents to educate their children. The information gathered helps us prepare for the new legislation session and maintain a database detailing which legislative offices are friendly to private home education.
On The Steps
One of the highlights of the afternoon was hearing directly from three California legislators. Senator Kelly Seyarto encouraged attendees to continue building relationships with their elected officials, reminding families that even those with differing viewpoints can find common ground. Assemblymember Josh Hoover, himself a homeschool graduate, emphasized the importance of parental choice in education and challenged homeschoolers to remain civically engaged. Assemblymember Juan Alanis also addressed the crowd, sharing about his work on AB 767 and his commitment to protecting children and families, drawing from his experience as a retired police sergeant.
Kevin Boden, an attorney with HSLDA, encouraged families throughout the day, speaking during both the training session and the time on the Capitol Steps. He encouraged families pursuing private homeschooling and reminded attendees of the importance of continuing to advocate for the freedom of parents to educate their children.
Lynda Sloneker, Executive Director of Stoa, spoke on the Capitol Steps to encourage attendees to join Stoa and shared how the organization is preparing students to become the next generation of Christ-following leaders. Stoa’s mission is to “train homeschool students to speak boldly and change the world for Christ.” Sloneker emphasized that this mission begins with the parents choosing to invest in opportunities like Capitol Day.
“It’s not a small thing, it’s a movement, and it’s happening right now in communities across California.”
– Lynda Sloneker
Sloneker also introduced the Stoa students who presented speeches during the program on the Capitol Steps:
- James Reeder, 14, “The Butterfly Effect”
- Mandy Pierce, 14, “Beauty Standards”
- Michael Pierce, 12, “Electricity”
- Lizzie Pierce, 17, “Disagreeing with Film Scores”
Each speech was a wonderful addition to the event and highlighted the unique talents and interests of homeschool students! We hope to grow this part of Capitol Day in future years, along with opportunities to showcase homeschool students’ projects (see more below).
Frank Erb, Pastor to the California Capitol, concluded the time on the steps with prayer and reminded attendees how they can bear witness to others, including legislators. After referencing Romans 10, he encouraged attendees in the knowledge of what they are standing for.
“You stand out because you have this desire to live rightly, to teach the kids well, and to honor God.”
– Frank Erb
Homeschool Projects Showcased
This year we were excited to introduce a new exhibition for Capitol Day! Tika Williams, a local representative for Classical Conversations (CC), coordinated with local homeschool students to collect projects and schoolwork to be displayed on the Capitol Steps. We ended up showcasing over 20 different homeschool projects! Attendees and legislators had the opportunity to view and interact with these projects up close. The goal was to show legislators and others walking by the Capitol steps some of the amazing projects homeschoolers have done! Huge thank you to Tika Williams for coordinating with all the CC students! If you know homeschooled students who would like their projects showcased on the Capitol Steps, this is the opportunity for you!
One of our student helpers this Capitol Day, Carissa Lyda, shared her experience with us:
“Attending Capitol day as a helper gave me an appreciation for the Christian’s duty to be involved in changing the world. It doesn’t have to be big, but Christian influence ought to extend to local policies and leadership. I got to see Christians actively influencing the government and ultimately extending the kingdom of Christ by sacrificing their time to fight for our right to homeschool freedom. I also got to see the excitement and eagerness that the legislatures had in interacting with the people they represent. It was a wonderful experience that I hope to have many more times in the future. This event helped me realize the power the common citizen has to change and influence the government.”
We hope to continue providing opportunities for students to participate in Capitol Day and gain firsthand experience in making a difference.
The time spent on the Capitol Steps was an encouraging conclusion to the day, giving attendees the opportunity to hear directly from legislators and speakers who encouraged families to continue raising their children well and preserving the freedom to homeschool.
Thank You!
Lastly, we would like to thank CHEA and the Jones family for assisting us at this event. They helped things run smoothly and supported us in the mission of our organization. Thank you to all the families who graciously gave their time to attend training and deliver packets to every legislators’ office. Capitol Day is only possible because of your dedication!
Our team is already working on plans for next year! This annual event takes a year of planning and preparation, and we couldn’t do it without our amazing staff and FPM supporters.
Most importantly, we want to give all glory to God for the opportunity to be a witness for Him at the California Capitol. We know that He is sovereign over every conversation held, every relationship built, and every seed planted through Capitol Day. We trust Him with the impact of these efforts and are thankful for the opportunity to serve Him in this way.
Photo Gallery
