Pomperaug Students Thrive at Youth and Government Conference

Last weekend I had the pleasure of taking students from Southbury and Middlebury to Hartford for the Youth and Government State Conference (no really, I was excited to work all weekend, because this program and my delegates are AWESOME).  Youth and Government is a national Y program that meets at the state and national levels.  The Connecticut state conference brought 250 students to the capitol for three days of debate, consensus building, and learning by doing... definitely experiential education at its best!   The 28 students from Pomperaug High School represented themselves and their school extremely well.  Not only were the students well behaved, but they were passionate in debate, and dedicated to the mission of the conference.  They exemplified the motto “work hard, play hard,” even taking the evening activities seriously (check out the inflatable jousting pictures).  Sawyer Collins and Teddy Hamilakis won an award for Best Bill, for their bill establishing a state holiday commemorating the Battle of Ridgefield.  Dylan Fischler was voted by his peers to be the Best Debater from the House of Representatives.  Six of our delegation’s bills were passed and signed by the Governor.  The returning students performed extremely well, but I was particularly surprised by the number of new underclassmen’s bills that were passed and signed into law.  

The State Conference had a pretty grueling schedule (how many teenagers are willing get up at 6 AM on a Saturday?!) but all of the students were excited to be there and made the most of their time.  One of my favorite parts about Youth and Government was watching my students debate bills that they didn’t write.  They did an incredible job pulling knowledge from their classroom experiences and applying it to legislation.  I was impressed by their poise, confidence, and sense of humor each time they participated in debate.  I also enjoyed getting to know even more about the students and their future plans.    

After this conference, I am confident that the Pomperaug delegation of the Youth and Government program will continue to grow and thrive in the coming years.  Thank you to all of the members of the community who supported this fantastic program, especially the students’ parents, the Waterbury YMCA,  the Heritage Hotel, UCC Southbury, and the Southbury Community Trust.