Providence Met School Students Visit Edward M. Kennedy Institute

PROVIDENCE, RI - From The Edward M. Kennedy Institute for The U.S Senate: The Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate welcomed nearly 100 students from St. Mary’s School in Melrose, Massachusetts and The Met High School in Providence, Rhode Island on Tuesday for a 2.5 hour immersive, educational program on the workings of the Senate. Using high-touch technology on tablets provided by the Institute, students took on the role of U.S. Senators and worked together to build and pass the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013.

The Senate Immersion Module program (SIM) provides an in-depth opportunity for students to engage in the legislative process. Students participate in hearings, committee mark-ups, and floor debates that culminate in a final vote on legislation inside the Institute’s full-scale replica U.S Senate Chamber. Since opening in March of 2015, the Institute has hosted more than 40,000 students from across the Commonwealth and the nation to take on both historic and current issues, from the Compromise of 1850 to the Affordable Care Act. The particular immigration reform bill students focused on would address several parts of the issue, including improvements to the guest worker program.

“At The Met we want our students to be very civically engaged,” said Arthur Baraf, principal at The Met High School in Providence. “By coming to the Institute, we give them an immersive experience where they can role play and walk through the steps of getting a piece of legislation ready for a vote. In the few times we’ve done this in the past, students get into it. They get excited. They absorb a lot of the information and they start to make more connections between how federal policies impact their lives and their families’ lives.”

The Institute’s Senate Immersion Module is compatible with Massachusetts Common Core curriculum. Specifically, the SIM provides corresponding pre- and post-lesson plans that meet Literacy Standards.

“The Institute is dedicated to inspiring the next generation of leaders to engage in our democracy,” said Jean MacCormack, President of the Edward M. Kennedy Institute. “The Senate Immersion Module program encourages students to discuss prominent issues in the American political dialogue, find common ground with those who think differently than they do, and collectively make their voices heard.”

At the completion of the program, the student-Senators from The Met High School had a rare tie vote on Tuesday, with Melrose also participating, of 30-30 on immigration reform with the Senate president breaking it in favor.

Photo courtesy of Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate