Twelve Greenbrier County students moved from the classroom to the Capitol for a close look at the inner workings of state government as part of the Youth Leadership Association’s eighth Grade Youth & Government Seminars Feb. 23-25 in Charleston. Selected representatives from Eastern Greenbrier and Western Greenbrier Middle Schools visited the State Capitol, the WV Supreme Court of Appeals, U.S. Federal Court, and the Governor’s Mansion among their activities on this educational trip.
“These seminars are a fantastic opportunity for our students to see many of our state’s leaders up close,” said Tom Starr, YLA executive director. “Their classroom lessons come alive and they get to meet the real people behind the titles. Government becomes personal and their minds awaken to the real possibility that they, too, could serve our great state.”
Now in its 34th year, the YLA eighth Grade Youth & Government Seminars are available to every school in the state through a unique partnership with the WV Department of Education and the executive, legislative and judicial branches of state government. There are four three-day seminars during the school year. This year, students from 79 schools in 29 WV counties are taking part. The students meet with representatives of each of the branches of government, discover how a bill becomes a law, tour the inner workings of the Capitol and Governor’s Mansion, visit the Supreme Court of Appeals, and participate in a mock trial at the U. S. Federal Court. The students also invite their local Delegate or Senator to attend a banquet and share a table with them on the closing evening.
For more information on Youth & Government Seminars or other programs of the Youth Leadership Association, visit www.yla-youthleadership.org.
