By Megan O’Donnell
St. Bonaventure University
Ever wonder how government works? No, how it really works? What the day-to-day application of being a government official is besides just what you learned about in your high school government class? Well, a group of four Ellicottville students were able to find out just that.
For 36 years, the County Government Intern Program has allowed all the high schools within Cattaraugus County to offer their seniors a chance to forgo the usual government course, in exchange for taking part in this program. In this program, students meet weekly with local county officials.
“It’s designed for seniors to get a hands-on experience to get a chance to be more involved,” said Tammy Eddy, Ellicottville high school counselor.
Students from the participating schools all meet together every Wednesday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. to hear from legislators, department heads and many other type of government officials, Eddy said.
“It gives them (students) a great opportunity to learn about local government interaction and to further gain social skills,” Eddy added.
This year, Ellicottville had its most participants ever, Eddy said. The four seniors were Jeff Brennan, Colin Lapi, Nick Oliverio and Laszlo Neuwirth.
“Each year the students have the opportunity to take this versus the participation course they have to take,” Eddy said. “The number of students varies every year. Sometimes one, but the most has been four – this year.” Since the intern program meets every Wednesday during school hours from September to December, each student involved has an excused absence.
“They are required to make up any work they miss, but since this is an academic program it is not held against them,” Eddy said. “All of their teachers are notified and well aware that they will be missing each Wednesday.”
The government intern program comes to an end with a mock legislative session. Eddy said that each student is given a separate issue and presents it at the mock legislative session and says/defends why his or her issue should be approved.
“It’s definitely a good experience,” Eddy said. “They’ve been learning about this all year and now they get to do it.”
High schools around Cattaraugus County can choose to take part in this program at any time to give their students a chance to experience local government in an unusual, yet educational way that can help build students’ social skills as well as their knowledge in government. If you have any questions about the program, you may contact Tammy Eddy by calling the Ellicottville high school.
