Owatonna’s Willow Creek Students Get Their Bill Signed

Gov. Mark Dayton has signed the bill that was the brain child of Willow Creek sixth-graders. In 2015, teacher Jennifer Hansen's sixth-grade students came up with the idea that some type of acknowledgment was due the workers who built the State Capitol between the years 1896 and 1907.

Time ran out on the bill in 2015, but was brought back to life during the most recent session. Three groups of six students each came to St. Paul. Each of the six students represented one of the six workers killed in the building of the capital.

The bill Dayton signed authorizes the installation of a plaque or three-dimensional marker in the State Capitol building to recognize and honor the efforts and sacrifice of the workers who constructed the building. There is a deadline of January 1, 2017, for the plaque to be installed to coincide with the completion of reconstruction work on the Capitol.

Rep. John Petersburg said he was happy to work hard with Sen. Vicki Jensen in helping to get the bill to the governor's desk. Petersburg said he is hoping for a possible commemorative signing of the bill for students to observe.