Recent Middleton High School graduate Akshay Manna and rising senior Alex Bo served on a student panel at the State Legislative Leaders Foundation’s Conference of State Majority Leaders in July. They attended the conference with Middleton High School social studies teachers Ms. Megan Sipiorski and Mr. Jeff Hayward, who lead the school’s Legislative Semester program.
The program offers simulation-based experiential learning to immerse students in the legislative process, allowing them to experience firsthand how government operates and the critical role citizens play in shaping public policy. The conference brought together 20 majority leaders from senates and assemblies nationwide along with students who participated in their schools’ Legislative Semester programs as well as legislative staff and industry representatives.
The panel Manna and Bo served on discussed the state of politics, public trust, youth civic engagement, and their own political interests. Panelists answered questions on voter turnout and the importance of civil discourse and offered advice to legislators.
In response to a question about future political participation, Manna said: “I'll definitely be voting. For me that is the baseline of living in a democracy, you have to participate, and it doesn't work if nobody participates. In terms of running for public office I think what this class really did for me was opened my eyes to the importance of local office. A lot of times in the news, you'll see races for president and all these national offices and they don't pay attention to what's going on on the local level, even though really local government is affecting your day-to-day life so much more than your federal government is.”
Congratulations to Manna and Bo for serving as panelists. Kate Ullman, executive director of Legislative Semester – the 501c3 organization that organized the conference – shared a special thanks for Ms. Sipiorski and Mr. Hayward.
“A huge thank you to the government teaching team at Middleton who have provided such dedication and leadership to developing our next generation of citizens, voters, and leaders,” Ullman said.
Learn more about Legislative Semester’s work to prepare young people for a lifetime of civic engagement by building skills in civil dialogue, information literacy and critical reasoning on their website.