Newsroom Archive for 07/18, 2008

High School Leaders Program Class of 2008
Day 6, Thursday, July 17
Reported by: Maribel Castaneda and Daniel Hivick

6:30am: Beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-snooze.
8:30am: After finally peeling myself from the comfort of my bed, I was able to shower, get ready, and head down to join my fellow Sorensen classmates. Once we all gathered in the lobby, our walk to the classroom began.
9:00am: We finally arrived at our destination and hung out until our speaker arrived. After a couple of minutes, Helen Jones presented our speaker Ms. Connie Jorgenson. Her expertise is in drafting legislation and knowing the do's and don'ts when trying to convert a bill into law. In the middle of her speech, I realized how much time and patience it really takes to have such high stakes on a bill. The insight Ms. Jorgenson gave us is definitely worth to share with the rest of the world:
    -Start a bill as soon as possible and not during January.
    -Prepare for the opposition.
    -NO. You'll hear it. Keep your dignity.
    -Avoid getting "single-issue-itis." Definition: Thinking your issue is the most important.
10:30am: After Ms. Jorgenson's presentation, we earned a break and unleashed our rowdy selves. After not-a-long-time, we settled back in our seats and turned our attention to John Barber who introduced Ms. Barbara Kessler. What Ms. Kessler brought was Resume Class 101. Most of us are college-bound juniors and seniors who will soon be starting the application process. It's definitely good to have a well-composed resume that shows our best selves. Many asked questions in order to perfect their resumes and were very appreciative of the feedback they received. At the end, Ms. Kessler told the class that she would take a copy of our current resumes and edit them. We're well on our way to success!
12:00pm: LUNCH. Enough said.
1:00pm: After satisfying our stomachs with tasty sandwiches, we returned to class and Caitlin Saloka introduced our last speaker for the day, Waldo Jaquith. Mr. Jaquith introduced us to the wild world of blogging. He showed us many political blogs that exist around the Commonwealth of Virginia and gave us examples of good and bad blogs maintained by politicians. A respectable political blog shows personality and minimal entries that deal a whole lot with actual politics. A poor developed blog contains a lot of political information. It further supported what we've been learning regarding the media. It related to the presentations that Mr. Coy Barefoot and Ms. Amy Gardner gave earlier this week.
2:30pm: Mr.McGuire came back to finish off the day with a fun-filled class taking a chisel to the Constitution. It led to many thought-provoking debates about Virginia's policies and what we would do to reform them. Hands shot up as many wanted to speak on bills regarding religion and state.
5:00pm: As soon as class ended, most of the students went straight to the library to work on their culminating projects. The day for us ended with the anticipation of tomorrow's basket of didacticism.
 Superfluous Information:
–    The dart game continues. We've recruited more! Mwahahaha!
–    Colin and Daniel made an excursion to Barracks Road to acquire Cheerwine. Congratulations fellas!
–    We learned about dentistry through a blogger… it was strange… and informative…
–    Maribel and J.R. got lost in the library. Beware of the stacks.
–    Salmon for dinner.
–    Rice for dinner. Kevin was excited.

— Maribel Castaneda of Harrisonburg, Harrisonburg High School Class of 2008
     Daniel Hivick of Keswick, Oxford Washington School Class of 2009