Youth for Government Day is a day where LCPS public high school students as juniors and seniors get to par-take an opportunity where they can meet the LCPS Board Supervisors and understand the many jobs the government can provide. As well as what career path they would want to potentially do in the future.
The day starts as the high school students arrive at Douglass Community Center in Leesburg where they get greeted at the front door. Then, students get their name tag which has their assigned table number and sit for their coordinated seat for the day. Once all the students arrive, they will get introduced to the panel of people who are there to help them understand how their entire day will go about and what they are going to be doing for that day. Students are then greeted with their district of board of supervisors that will sit with them and discuss what their name and grade level is.
Then, students will get the time to eat lunch at the Douglass Community Center where they will choose what they want to eat and desserts are also provided. Then students will sit in their assigned table and discuss potential career pathways about government with their Board of Supervisors as students also get the opportunity to ask any questions about what the Board of Supervisors do. As well as why their jobs are so important for our roads and why the people of Loudon County put tax money into things such as community services, roads, traffic lights and more. Then, there are interactive learning sessions where students will hear a Board of Supervisor Phyllis J. Randall speak about her experiences running for her campaign about becoming a part of the school board and how her experiences led her to lose some campaigns but never quitted. Then after her years of campaigning, it finally led her to become a Board of Supervisor for Loudoun County. After this, students will then get a tour of the Douglass Community Center where they will get a chance to see the history behind how it was a former high school. But it has been renovated to be a community center in which they also have a playground. 11th grader Layan Mazarawni says,”The playground is huge and there are a lot of statues to honor historic figures.” Since there are important figures such as Martin Luther King Jr. and President Barack Obama in the play area where kids can learn all about these important historic figures.
Then, after students are done touring the Douglass community center, they will be getting on a bus to go to the Loudon County Government Center where they will be assigned to sit in their seats. There will also be students having the chance to say something from each district. There are several districts such as Ashburn, Broad Run, Algonkian, Catoctin, Dulles, Lessburg, Little River and Sterling districts. And one student from each high school will be given the opportunity to represent their district. 11th grader Sanaa Smithen says,”This is such a great opportunity for students to engage in! This can really help students understand what parts of the government are interesting for them.” Then, there will be discussion about what the agenda would cover for that day and the other students will watch and listen as to what is being said. Students can also take down any notes they feel are important during the panel discussion.
Finally, around 5 pm, students are then driven home or transported to the shuttle bus to Douglass Community Center where they will then get picked up and go home.
