Earlier this spring a few Shepherd students attended the Annual Youth In Government Conference in Lansing. The students had a great time and had a chance to learn about state government first-hand. The annual event is sponsored by the YMCA. Shepherd has been involved in this program for over 10 years. The following excerpt from the YMCA does a nice job of describing what the students experience.
"There are two ways to learn about government. The
first is to read textbooks about what others have done. The second is to take
that theoretical knowledge and apply it in an actual government setting.
The Youth In Government program provides over 1600
high school students with a unique opportunity to become acting state
legislators, lobbyists, lawyers, committee chairs, etc. In essence, the
students simulate all phases and positions of the actual state government.
These students are challenged with many of the issues our real legislators must
face in their elected offices.
Youth from throughout the state are selected as
delegates from student councils, government classes or YMCA'S and spend months
researching for the event. Students take positions in the House and Senate as
well as the executive branch. They work in chambers to introduce, debate and
vote on proposed legislative bills that have been written by the youth
legislators in their hometowns."
The students had an opportunity to gain even more this year by getting a tour of the Michigan Hall of Justice where the Michigan Supreme Court resides and meeting with our local representative, Representative Kevin Cotter. Representative Cotter invited the students into his office for a time and then to a conference room to talk to the students and answer any questions the students had.
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