Fina Mendoza Goes to the State of the Union Address

Full Episode description

On Wednesday night, March 7th, members of Congress from the House and Senate will hear a speech from President Biden about the State of the Union. Our Founding Fathers thought the annual speech to Congress was so important, they put it in the Constitution.

But what IS the State of the Union address? And what’s it like to be inside the U.S. Capitol, sitting in the House Gallery, above the lawmakers and Supreme Court Justices and the cabinet? 

In this special bonus episode of The Fina Mendoza Mysteries, we take you to the State of the Union address where a mysterious bird disrupts the speech.

Want to know more about the history of the State of the Union address? Sign up for our Facts Behind the Fiction newsletter. That newsletter explores the facts behind the fiction in the Fina Mendoza Mysteries.We’ll even send you a link to a FREE copy of the 56-page Teacher’s Guide to State of the Union.

The Fina Mendoza Mysteries follow the adventures of the 10-year-old daughter of a congressman, investigating mysteries in the U.S. Capitol.

Kitty Felde is writer producer.

The Fina Mendoza Mysteries podcast is based on the book State of the Union, by Kitty Felde, published by Chesapeake Press. You can get an autographed copy of State of the Union here.

You can find out more about the cast and crew of The Fina Mendoza Mysteries at the website ChesapeakePress.org. 

Cast:

Amy Solano – Fina Mendoza

Christine Avila – Abuelita

Steven Cuevas – Papa

Linda Graves – Claudia

Mark Bramhall – President of the United States

Ian Muchiri – Michael

DeeDee Chapell – stage manager at the rebuttal speech

Rosalie Huntington – Minority Leader

Wenzel Jones – Waiter

Music in the party is composed and performed by Kevin Pike. Andrea Felix Cervantes is our stage manager. Our theme music is written and performed by Andrew Barkan and our logo designer is Imelda Hinojosa.

State of the Union is book two in the Fina Mendoza Mysteries series. The Spanish version Estado de la Union will be released by Chesapeake Press this summer. The podcast and the books are designed to introduce civics education to elementary school students.

You can get an autographed copy of any of the Fina Mendoza books by clicking the link in the shownotes or check out the Chesapeake Press website chesapeakepress.org. that’s where you can also sign up for our Facts Behind the Fiction newsletter. This week, it’s more information about the rebuttal speech. And when you sign up for the newsletter, you’ll also get a free download of the 56 page Teachers Guide to State of the Union.

I hope you’ll tune in to Wednesday’s SOtU speech and the rebuttals. You never know when a bird might just poop on somebody’s head.