Pine Bush sent its Youth in Government students to participate in the annual Amy Bull Crist Youth-In-Government Program on Oct. 20, hosted by Minisink Valley. At this  convention, students present their “planks,” which are their very own pieces of written legislation to groups of students from other schools with a common theme as their planks. It offers students the chance to learn first-hand about the democratic process.

 

 

Students are asked to pick a topic that is very important to them, something they would like to see changed when it comes to their society.  Once they have chosen something, they then are led through a process of writing a piece of legislation of their own!  Their plank is then put into one of six categories to compete with other students in that plank platform. The plank categories are economics, environmental, foreign policy, state, local, and social. 

 

Some of Pine Bush’s planks ranged from rehabilitating the prison system, focusing on nuclear energy, ending lobbying as a common practice, strengthening the power of unions, evaluating authoritarian governments, and setting criteria for US involvement financially in foreign affairs.

 

 

“These were very strong topics and our students had very passionate views on these issues,” said Charlene Webster, the group’s advisor. “The students, who are mostly new to the program, did amazing presentations. These presentations are 2-3 minutes in length so our students have to get straight to the point and convince others that their plank is important enough to move on to the final round.”

 

 

 

Riley Kool and Jesse Morse had a second place winner with their plank on foreign policy. Their plank was setting goals, boundaries, and rules for the United States’ providing money to foreign countries during their times of conflict. It was well thought out and a great example of team work by these two dedicated young men.

 

It was a great day for our Pine Bush youth and they represented our school with pride.

Pine Bush Youth In Government Students:

• Matt Falsetta
• Joseph Dickman
• David Zadov
• Cole Miedema
• Jacob Schuh
• Logan Norton-Lapsky
• Riley Kool
• Kyle O’Brien
• Lydia Luksha
• Jesse Morse
• Mahek Multani
• Gavin Vendy

Participating School Districts

• Cornwall
• Florida
• Highland Falls
• Marlboro
• Middletown
• Minisink Valley
• Newburgh
• Pine Bush
• Port Jervis
• Valley Central
• Warwick Valley
• Washingtonville