Newsroom Archive for 07/22, 2010

High School Leaders Program Class of 2010
Day 11-Tuesday, July 20
Recorded by: Jeff Smith, Richmond

I started my day at 8AM to a sunny day, greeted with "business casual" attire on my schedule. I wore the pants with the button down shirt, but regretted it by 9AM. We had class as usual, taught by our second week professor. It's been nice getting to know everyone and I know that I will be in touch with my classmates soon after we depart. We're already 11 days into our program and it seems like we arrived yesterday. The program has been exciting and I can't wait to go back to Richmond tomorrow, for another day trip. We are already deep into our policies, writing drafts, having discussions, and learning how to work with each other. We had Chick-Fil-A today which happens to be my favorite fast-food restaurant. We eat outside during lunch most days and sit at a table and enjoy our meals together. I'm having a fun time with our instructors and everyone at the Institution. We have been studying a lot and working in groups most nights. Today we heard from three separate speakers today and learned more about the state vs. local government problems. It was a good day.

High School Leaders Program Class of 2010
Day 11-Tuesday, July 20
Recorded by: John Janousek, Yorktown

We woke up at the usual time today- 8:00, giving us just enough time to battle over shower privileges before having to be downstairs at 8:30. Jeff forgot it was a business casual day and instead decided to just sport casual clothing until realizing his error. Like always, we were fashionably late downstairs to meet up with everyone and walk to class. It was a hot morning, and I could already feel my button up shirt embracing me in a hot, humid hug emblematic of the horrors of Virginian summers. Class was dominated by lecture, only interrupted by those lucky enough to be called on (who knows what our Professor's system of choosing who to call on is). Lunch was divine- a delicious array of Chick-Fil-A awaited to be consumed by us. Falling upon it like vultures, we made quick work of the 2 chicken nugget platters.

After our feast, we had 4 speakers. Unfortunately, all of their names elude me. However, I remember distinctly what they discussed. The first speaker was an intern for Interfaith, and interest group which expresses the views of various religions it represents in order to influence Virginian policy. The discussion with our speaker centered mostly around immigration though, and some became more passionate then others with the issue. The second speakers were legislative aids, and spoke together. They discussed what they did as legislative aids and explained some of the legislative process to us. They were interesting speakers and gave us business cards. Our fourth speaker was an energetic guy who was a Sorensen graduate. He worked for Senator Webb and was the first person involved with federal politics who has talked to us. He had many interesting points, and also offered to help us on our policy pieces. We got to leave around 4, after discussing with our groups about what changes we would do to our legislature. The majority of the rest of our evening was spent editing and preparing the policy, complimented with a couple trips to the Corner for food of course.