HSLP 2009: Day 7, July 17

High School Leaders Program Class of 2009
Day 7— Friday, July 17
Reported by: Michael Casco-White of Hayfield Secondary School, Alexandria

     Today we learned about the setup of Virginia's government. Marc Johnson taught us about the components of local government in an installment of The Informed Citizen; Dillon rule (state gov has more authority); home rule (local gov has more authority); a rousing debate and its causes in advocating home rule.; form of gov-- city council & manager/ board of supervisors/ mayor & elected chairmen of board. Then Jack, Aya, and Emma presented a highly thought-provoking power point in which taxes, education, transportation, and crime prevention were covered. Other than Kate Maxwell's speech, this was the highlight of the day as debate carried on intensely for about 15 minutes.
     After a tasty lunch of chicken, salad, and wraps, we went back into a class session with Marc. During this time we discussed the latter articles in the packet and were all well informed at the end. The final two speakers of the day were very informative and offered different perspectives on politics. Kate Maxwell, a senior at Virginia Tech, told the class what it is like to be Chair of the College Republicans in Virginia. She is obliged to support the Republican candidate no matter what... which seems a bit binding and way too non flexible.
     To close up our great Friday classes, Aimee Perron-Seibert came to speak about lobbying. She loves her job and gets to attempt to persuade politicians on many different issues. She described it as “persuading your parents to let you take the car out”. Overall, classes this Friday made for a great closing to the week. Everyone participated and learned a lot.

—Michael Casco-White, Alexandria