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Published on 02/16/1998 All articles from this issue

Local students invade State Capitol to learn how government works

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By Linda Taaffe

Town Crier Staff Writer

A delegation of 31 Los Altos area teens joined the 2,200 California high school students who took over the State Capitol during the 50th annual YMCA Youth and Government conference Feb. 12-16 to debate issues such as driving regulations, euthanasia laws, Internet restrictions and the legalization of gay marriages.

Serving as senators, assembly members, supreme court justices, lobbyists and in other roles, participating teens got a hands-on understanding of how California government really works.

"It's a lot different from class," said Jessica Waight, a sophomore at Mountain View High School who served on the assembly. "You actually get to act it out and take over the role of a politician. Everything is thrown at you, so you have learn the process quickly."

Every year, thousands of sophomores, juniors and seniors begin working on the year-long government simulation program, attending conferences and monthly meetings to prepare for the Sacramento conference at the end of the program.

Lesley Scutero, teen director at the El Camino branch YMCA, said the students attend two training conferences at Camp Roberts. Students learn about various government roles during the first conference and train for their chosen roles in Sacramento during the second conference.

Scutero said students "put everything they have learned all together in Sacramento." During the five-day conference, they turn in their bill proposals and vote for a governor, she said.

Scutero said the Capitol buildings are abandoned during the conference so students can actually use the governor's office, the assembly's meeting hall and the courtrooms. Students are expected to dress to their role, she said.

"It's like the 'real deal,'" Scutero said. "Once in the program, they're hooked."

Lindsay Goines, a senior at Mountain View who has participated in the program for two years, served on the National Issues Committee, a group that examines national and international issues.

Goines said she enjoys the program because it gives her the opportunity to propose bills that she believes in. She wrote a bill to legalize gay marriages.

"I've learned the nitty gritty about politics," she said.

Waight said she never had a strong interest in politics, but she can't wait to go back to Sacramento next year.

"You can see what the whole youth of America has in common when you're all thrown together," she said.