Students in Social Studies teacher Todd Manninen’s American Experience class had the opportunity to meet with Secretary of State Mark Ritchie speak about his job.
During his speech on October 13, Ritchie talked about how his job works, what he does as Secretary of State and the differences between his job as Secretary of State and the Federal Secretary of State.
He spent time after the presentation in a private interview with students who had a chance to ask him questions one-on-one.
“The largest part of our staff and office helps businesses conduct their affairs inside the state of Minnesota,” said Ritchie, “but the largest public perception is that our office is only the partner with townships, city and county officials on elections. So from the newspaper and TV media coverage, people think of our office primarily around election. Inside of our office, about two-thirds of our staff are providing services for businesses. In addition to those two big things, we do a lot of work for public education about Democracy, History and Civic Education in general.”
Afterwards, he showcased his environmentally friendly vehicle and gave out books about the Minnesota Capitol for students in Manninen’s class. He gave away two of his favorite books on former Minnesota Governor Elmer Andersen.
Additionally, he offered two journalism students an “inside tour” of the Minnesota State Capitol building in St. Paul, all the while described his duties as overseeing the official copy of the U.S. Constitution coming to Minnesota this winter.
The interview and presentation helped students learn more about the importance of Ritchie’s job. The two students were thankful that he took his time out of a very busy schedule to talk to them personally and give them such a rare opportunity.
Story by Molly Kwakenat and Dan Holland
Photo by Ben Leipholtz
