The legislative process is something students learn about in the classroom, but rarely have an opportunity to see in action or participate in.
But four students from St. Joseph-Ogden and three students from Heritage High School joined dozens of high school students from the Illinois 51st Senate District to participate in a unique, hands-on experience in public policy, state government, and leadership and heard from local leaders on those issues as part of State Sen. Chapin Rose’s Youth
Advisory Council at Parkland College on Dec. 7.
St. Joseph-Ogden civics and history teachers encouraged Nolan Peacock, Erica Guelfi, Faith Dahman, and Eric Poe to participate. Evan Wilson from Heritage is interested in the legislative process and may be interested in becoming a political leader. Fiona Ely and Gracyn Allen are part of Youth and Government Statewide, a program through the YMCA, and wanted to broaden their knowledge of the political process.
Dahman said, “I think that it’s really important to be here because we need exposure to people who are in the same area that we are, living in the same place as we are, but might have other viewpoints. We can listen to them and understand different perspectives and that way it can contribute to our own perspective and how we can come up to make cohesive solutions all together.”
Heritage Senior Fiona Ely said, “I think it’s important for young people to be knowledgeable about these issues and how they can help with these issues and be leaders in any setting, whether local or federal.”
Before students began to hear from a variety of speakers including CEO and Founder of H-Squared Leadership Institute Habeeb Habeeb, University of Illinois Community and Government Relations Director Robert Flider and Mayor of Champaign Deb Feinen, among others, the students heard from Senator Rose.
Rose talked to students about local topics such as the Mahomet Aquifer, industry in Illinois, how districts are set up and how, although the media highlights contention between parties, most politicians work together to create common good for the state.
Between speakers, students were encouraged to discuss political topics and participated in activities. Tee and Uken said that those discussions were what they were looking forward to most.
“Considering the isolated nature of being in one school, and especially a small school where people think alike, it’s kind of a great opportunity to step out of your point of view and your perspective and understand how other people think,” Peacock said.
“I think that in politics it’s very divisive because people have separated themselves along party lines,” Guelfi said, “And you see a lot of that in the media where people are coming against each other rather than collaborating together. I think it would be nice to see people who are willing to compromise and see that there is a middle ground that can help work for everybody.”
After the day was over, Peacock felt like the peers he worked with throughout the day showed respect towards each other.
“For my group at least it seemed like most of the table held a more conservative point of view, while I held a more liberal
one,” he said. “Despite this, it was really respectful and we all got along really well, discussion went even better than expected in that sense.
Because political topics not only impact youth in a way that they may not have in the past and because internet platforms allow everyone to have access to topics and a place to state their opinion, the students believe it’s more important for youth to be informed about the political process.
“Everybody has a chance to voice their opinions on whatever platform they want, so even if we can’t yet influence it by voting, we can still have an active role in trying to convince other people of our point of view,” Peacock said.
“There are a lot of kids at our school that I know that are like, I’m not going to vote, this doesn’t matter, but the importance of you have a voice and the people that you’re electing to put in office, they have a voice and you need to make sure that
they are reflecting how you feel about things,” Dahman said.
Through the session, Peacock gained a better understanding of the environment St. Joseph-Ogden provides for their students.
“I feel as though my school actually does quite a bit to foster these kinds of discussion as is,” he said. “Our history and civics classes tend to be really geared towards participation from the students, and with things like our “We The People” team, there’s really no shortage of politically active students getting involved and speaking their mind.”
The Youth Advisory Council will meet again at the Illinois State Capitol where they’ll experience even more of the legislative process.
