Ismael Benavidez received his first glimpse of lawmaking Friday. It’s long-winded a process often likened to sausage-making – something no one really wants to see – but the junior at Sammamish High School left Olympia impressed.

“It was pretty neat to see how it all worked,” he said. “And I’ve learned a lot this week.”

Benavidez and about 600 other students were at the Capitol to meet with legislators as part of an education conference hosted by the Latino/a Educational Achievement Project.

They also visited the chambers, took a tour of the building, received a primer of how the political process works and discussed several bills that would benefit Latino students in Washington.

The LEAP conference began Thursday at the Hotel Murano in downtown Tacoma with a dinner and keynote address from Gov. Chris Gregoire. Students attended leadership and educational workshops. The conference concludes Saturday morning.

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Author Carla Seaquist has a fine essay in the Christian Science Monitor about returning to her home, Lewis County, which is still recovering from the devastating flooding in early December.

Her description of the scene there:

Now, roads are cracked or washed out; bridges, both wood and concrete, are gone; railroad tracks hover over beds no longer there; streams are choked with debris; here and there, hills gave way to mudslides. Into the night I saw people shoveling the thick mud out of their homes. Those done shoveling ripped out carpet and insulation and burned the wreckage in bins in yards where more mud awaited. To see all the destruction is heartbreaking.

It’ll soon be my turn to contribute to The News Tribune’s weekly 125th-anniversary series. That means I’ll be at the library to bone up on my South Sound history.

Later I’m going to check out the legislative day hosted by the Latino/a Educational Achievement Project. On legislative day (that's today), students and their parents will visit and have lunch with their legislators and other elected officials.