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Students Play Senators for a Day

Dec. 11, 2006 — A group of students at the Ivanna Eudora Kean High School on St. Thomas got a crash course Monday on the inner workings of the Legislature, learning first hand about serving as a senator.
Journalism teacher Karl Caesar and his colleague at Eudora Kean, Thelca Bedminster, an English teacher, supervised the hands-on civics lesson. They also had help from Athneil "Bobby" Thomas, a legislative media specialist.
"When students come to the Senate as part of the legislative tour, I like to teach them about all the aspects of the first branch of government," Thomas said. Subjects discussed Monday included the formation of the Senate's majority, the role of political parties and how a bill goes through the Senate.
Students also learned about voting in the two districts, and the role of the senator-at-large, Thomas added.
Since Monday's full Senate session got postponed because of bad weather, the students had a chance to role play, becoming senators themselves for the day. "We let them sit in the seats and use the mikes, and usually I like to give them a fabricated bill to debate on," Thomas said.
The students were able to consider a proposal that cuts the number of days in a school week. "We even had four mock testifiers," Thomas explained. "Students took on the roles of the commissioner of education, the police chief, the president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and the commissioner of Human Services."
While students initially seemed to favor the bill, they changed their minds after hearing the testifiers' arguments, saying they would like to see the school week increase, Thomas said.
"In the end, the students brought up the idea that having no school on Fridays would impact their national test scores," he said. "And many also talked about how students get into trouble when they're not in school. They had a really good grasp of all the issues."
One student, playing the part of AFT President Vernelle deLagarde, noted that an extended school week would not work for union members.
One student, Jonelle Jackson, 15, also said she hoped to become a senator one
day.
"It's really great being able to do this with them," Thomas said. "It really helps them to understand the whole process."
Two senators, Shawn-Michael Malone and Ronald E. Russell, made cameo
appearances during the proceedings and disbursed tidbits of advice.
"Have a goal in mind and go out and do it," Russell told the students.
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