News

YLT6 Government and Education Day

By Youth Leadership Tallahassee, 10/14/2009

The members of Youth Leadership Tallahassee Class 6 got some real lessons in decision making during their Government and Education day on October 13th Sponsored by the James Madison Institute, the day was coordinated by Becky Liner. The class began the day "Lost at Sea" with an array of items that could help them survive if they were in a life boat at least a thousand miles from civilization The trick was to determine which items were most important and learn how individual decision making differs from group decision making. After surviving that ordeal, the class participated in a mock School Board meeting, chaired by School Board Chair Joy Bowen. After the school board meeting, 4 members of the class presented campaign speeches they had written for ficticious mayoral candidates. JR Davis, YLT6 Curriculum Chair, was very impressed with the speeches, saying that local candidates should recruit the young speech writers for upcoming campaigns. The class enjoyed a networking lunch with elected officials and higher education representatives. Katie Skene, YLT Class 6 member remarked, "I was really surprised that the elected officials and school representatives cared so much about the youth and YLT."

After lunch, the class convened in the Senate Chambers for an exercise entitled "Bill or No Bill." Several bills were presented to the "Governor" for veto or approval. The Governor was given policy analysis and political advice for each bill by members of the class, and then the Governor had the option of either vetoing or signing each bill. After researching and presenting the policy analysis of a bill, YLT6 member Rachel Niu learned that public speaking isn't so bad, stating "I have learned to have confidence in myself."

From the Senate Chambers, the class finished the day in the Supreme Court Chambers, with 4 class members playing the roles of attorneys presenting oral arguments before the United States Supreme Court. Nine class members acted as Justices considering a free speech case. Dylan Patel (YLT6) will used his experience as a Supreme Court Justice to help him understand topics when he votes in 2 years.

All in all, the day was a huge success. Many class members agreed with Gillis Langston, who said the day's activities have "encouraged me to be more active in my city. I really enjoyed this program day."

The day's activities were covered by the local media: cut and paste these links to see the coverage www.tallahassee.com/article/20091014/NEWS01/910140318/1010/High-schoolers+learn+about+government

and www.wtxl.com/global/video/flash/popupplayer.asp