Boudreaux-Johnson attends CEC legislative summit

In July, Marcy Boudreaux-Johnson represented the Louisiana Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) at the 2015 Council for Exceptional Children Legislative Summit in Alexandria, Virginia. According to the National CEC, 165 special educators attended the 2015 Special Education Legislative Summit to study the critical issues facing the field, build advocacy knowledge and skills and prepare for their most important mission: “To advocate on behalf of the students back home in their districts and states with members of Congress on Capitol Hill Day.” What made this Capitol Hill Day different from previous years was that while advocates were hard at work within the halls of Congressional offices, lawmakers were busy inside the U.S. Capitol debating the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). Some lucky advocates even had the opportunity to actually listen to the debate and witness the votes in the Senate gallery. Boudreaux-Johnson was one of those lucky advocates. Boudreaux-Johnson has been an Early Childhood Special Educator since 1997. She earned her Bachelors and Masters degrees from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. She completed her Educational Specialist and is receiving her PhD from LSU this August. She has been an active member of the Council for Exceptional Children, the professional organization for special educators, for over 20 years. She is now Louisiana CEC’s Children and Youth Action Network Advocate (CAN Coordinator). She was honored to advocate for her students and the profession she loves. In the top left photo, she poses with Representative John Fleming in the hallway of the gallery between votes. In the top right photo, she poses with Pam Davidson, senior policy advisor from Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy’s office. (Photos courtesy of Marcy Boudreaux-Johnson)