Remind your students that the Capitol is a working building.  The hallways through which they will travel have offices staffed by year-round employees, along with committee rooms in which important meetings may be in session.  While moving throughout the Capitol, conversations should be kept to whisper level and please set cell phones to vibrate.

To minimize hallway and stairwell congestion, groups must stay to the right and in single file.

All electronic devices should be off/on silent and out of sight during the Senate Chamber presentation.  

All participants and chaperones should be respectful of the Senate chamber and all furnishings.  Please remind your students not to touch any components of a Senator’s desk until instructed by a staff member.  At the conclusion of the presentation, your group should leave the chamber looking the way it did when they entered.

All participants and chaperones should be respectful of the staff members leading the presentation as well as fellow group participants during the bill debate.  This includes, but is not limited to, avoiding the following: having side conversations, talking out of turn, shouting, and making loud noises such as clapping and laughing.

A chaperone should lead the group inside the Senate Chamber and direct half the students to one side and the remaining students to the opposite side.  Chaperones should be evenly dispersed around the Senate Chamber.  They should sit on the benches along the back of the chamber or at a Senator’s desk (if one is available).

If a chaperone must take a phone call, they should silently exit the chamber before answering the phone.  This limits disruption of the presentation and bill debate.