Sometimes a letter is all it takes to meet and chat with a very important person.
Just days after retiring from the nation's highest court, former Justice Sandra Day O'Connor mingled with students at Esperero Canyon Middle School last Friday.
About 200 seventh-graders and their teachers were able to touch base with the first female Supreme Court justice on questions about life, law and learning.
"It was a wonderful experience," said Dawn Netzel, one of two instructors who teach the seventh-grade civics and government class that invited O'Connor. "This made law become alive, this is what law is about."
The former justice was greeted by students lining up along the driveway when she arrived at the campus at 5801 N. Sabino Canyon Road around 10 a.m., Netzel said.
During her 45-minute stay, she first met with sixth- and eighth-graders and then went to speak to the students of the seventh-grade civics class.
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O'Connor surprised the students with her humor and warmth and connected to them immediately, Netzel said.
"She was so down to earth," she said.
The students gave her standing ovations, were paying attention throughout the lecture and one girl even made cookies for O'Connor, Netzel said.
"Our students deserve a tremendous amount of credit," she said.
Elise Samoy-Alvarado, a seventh-grader who got to meet O'Connor personally, said it was "amazing" and "quite a privilege" to welcome her.
"I was kind of nervous and I was trying to think of what to say," Samoy-Alvarado said. "It was a moment I will pretty much never forget and all of us were thrilled she came."
The 13-year-old said she will remember the former justice's message to hold on to dreams in life, even if it's tough.
"Never give up because she never gave up. She kept trying and she got into the highest court," Samoy-Alvarado said, whose goal it is to play softball for the University of Arizona and to compete in the Olympics.
After a short introduction, O'Connor answered students' questions about her greatest challenge in life, the most memorable case in court and if she ever felt pressured when deciding a case, Netzel said.
When asked what advice she would give to teenagers, her answer was to "read quickly and write well," Samoy-Alvarado said. "I will take advantage of that in the future," she added.
The idea to invite O'Connor, who spent part of her youth in Arizona, was conceived by a group of Esperero teachers last summer. Everyone liked the idea of connecting the classroom material and real-life experiences, Netzel said.
In early September, a package containing letters from 200 students, teachers, Esperero's principal, the Catalina Foothills School District superintendent and parents' petitions, was sent to Washington, D.C. But O'Connor wrote back in late September, saying she wasn't sure if she could make it.
It wasn't until last Thursday that the school found out that O'Connor would come the following day, Netzel said.
"It was just this kernel of (an) idea in summer and it blossomed," she said. "There is no better civics lesson than to write a Supreme Court justice and (then) she comes to talk about the Supreme Court and life. Every student and teacher on this campus rallied."
There is no better civics lesson than to write a Supreme Court justice and (then) she comes to talk about the Supreme Court and life.
Dawn Netzel
Esperero Canyon Civics teacher
