This semester, Brown County Junior High School students drafted their own legislation, and some students were picked to present their bills to state and local government leaders.
Sen. Eric Koch, R-Bedford, visited the junior high school Dec. 14 to sit on a panel and hear presentations from seven students. They had drafted legislation on topics ranging from providing counseling and life skills to pregnant teens, to reducing farmers’ debt.
The bills were drafted during the Government in Action simulation in social studies classes taught by Michael Potts and Justin Schwenk.
“This was an interesting project that was originally done in Mr. (Brian) Garman’s social studies class when I was in his class as an eighth-grader. It was something that I remembered fondly and through the project have heard from some of my former classmates, who are now parents of eighth-graders and remember the project as well,” Schwenk said in an email last week. “We thought it was time to dust off an interesting opportunity for interactive learning.”
Garman is now principal at the junior high school.
The teachers each took a body of Congress. Schwenk handled the House of Representatives and Potts took the Senate. Students then researched a national issue, drafted mock legislation, elected their own congressional leadership and ran sessions according to Roberts’ Rules of Order. They also simulated the passage of a bill into law from introducing the bill, to committee work, to a floor debate, and then voting. The bills then went to the other congressional body for approval, Schwenk said.
Garman served as the president and also sat on the panel. The We the People class was slated to serve as the Supreme Court, but that hasn’t happened yet; it may continue in January.
“Our science classes engage in a great opportunity to partner with corporations to research and engineer solutions to authentic problems and present to leaders of those companies. This is the social studies version of that program,” Schwenk said of the STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) corporate projects happening each semester.
The best bills were selected, and those authors then presented their ideas to local and state government leaders.
Jim Schultz with the Brown County Redevelopment Commission and the Hometown Collaboration Initiative also listened to bills. Debbie Harman represented Brown County Schools and also listened to presentations on the panel, Schwenk said.
Other bill topics included plastics reduction, Puerto Rico statehood, firearm background check reform and removing pets from homes of domestic abusers and creating pet-friendly domestic abuse shelters.
“These are innovative topics that do not immediately strike someone as on the minds of eighth-graders, but almost every one of the students’ bills were equally complex. We couldn’t have been prouder,” Schwenk said.
“All of our students who presented did a fantastic job and were very capable at fielding follow-up questions from our panelists. … This was an incredible experience for our students and a great example of integrating the decision making process, civic engagement and project/inquiry based learning in our schools as we develop civic- and character-driven boys and girls at Brown County Junior High.”
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The following students were chosen to present their mock legislation to a panel of state and local government leaders earlier this month.
Eliana Smith: Developing a program to provide counseling and life skills to pregnant teens in the school environment
Kennedy Root: Plastics reduction
Ava Roush: Puerto Rico statehood
Tori Klaker: Firearm background check reform
Mary Rygiel: Plastics reduction
Norah Bare: Removing pets from homes of domestic abusers and creating pet-friendly domestic abuse shelters
Charlie Schultz: Debt reduction plan for farmers
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