HSLP 2011: Day 10-Monday, July 18

High School Leaders Program
Day 10 - Monday, July 18
Reported by: Alec Shobe, Maggie Walker Governor's School; Caroline Crabtree, Douglas Southall Freeman High School; Irene Koo; Deep Run High School

After a relaxing weekend filled by casual attire, women’s soccer, extra sleep and a little bit of magic, the HSLP group made the walk back up to Robertson Hall on Monday morning for the start of a new week of classes. After Professor Bragaw’s morning lecture on the differences between policy entrepreneurship and policy analysis, the students broke up into groups to talk about bringing green jobs into the hypothetical city whose mayor they were advising.

After Bodo’s for lunch, the students heard Del. Rob Bell (R-58th) speak and answer questions on their respective policy projects. This was a helpful experience for most of the policy groups until the group originally focused on taxation was horrified when the delegate informed them that their original proposal was unconstitutional.

After Rob Bell, April Auger came to teach us about professionalism and fashion in the workplace. After learning which colors are appropriate for interviews, the students decided that mustaches are not looked upon as professional in the workplace.

Waldo Jaquith then taught about the role of VPAP in opening government to the public. He also spoke about the importance of technology in making governmental information open to the public.

Next, Hassan Abdelhalim spoke about his previous experiences in the College Leaders Program. He and his classmate Emily Bowles were successful in passing their bill on teen dating violence. He walked the students through the process and illuminated certain paths to follow.

After their last speaker, the students returned to Bice House and ate Mellow Mushroom’s pizza for dinner. The fun was short-lived as many groups had an extensive 25-page policy paper to finish by the next morning. As this blog post is being written at midnight, some groups are still hard at work trying to finish their proposals while the other groups are celebrating their completion. As the groups start returning to their suites to obey the slightly extended curfew, they all wonder what will become of the taxation group. Only time will tell.