– Understanding Illinois Local Government Youth Academy was based on Extension's high school curriculum and developed to introduce high school youth to local government through a series of meetings and opportunities within the community so they would learn more about local government to become more active in civic affairs now and in the future.
Cheryl Geitner, Youth Development and Family Life Educator, Knox County, formed a local task force to determine program details, marketing strategies, incentives to participate and guest speakers for the sequential program. Terry Feinberg, Community Economic Development Educator, Rockford Center, was instrumental in guiding the task force as well as teaching parts of the curriculum. Members of the committee were a County Board member, County Clerk, Regional Superintendent of Schools, City Alderman and local youth who was interested in politics. Youth would attend a county board meeting, city council meeting, school board and township meeting along with other educational presentations. The program included nine sessions which began in early September and continued through mid November.
Feinberg presented information on the uniqueness of Illinois local government, the Open Meetings Act and performed a WalkAbout! in downtown Galesburg to correlate the community's infrastructure and more to local government. The Knox County Clerk presented information on the election process and described how to become an election judge. One youth applied and served as an election judge. Youth also participated in a career shadowing experience at sites based on their intended career choice.
After visiting local school board meetings and through the experiential learning model of processing events attended, youth wondered why adults were making decisions that affected them without youth input. Two school districts were contacted concerning including a youth representative to serve as an ex-officio member of the school board. To date, one school district is moving forward on consideration of this proposal.
Students who participated had the following to say about the Academy.
Before this program, I thought local government was not as exciting, interesting, and important as state and national government. Now, especially after seeing school board and city county meetings, I realize local government can be quite interesting and is just as important as any other government.
During the program, I learned about how the roads and bridges are set up on a grid and map system. I also learned about the agenda at local meetings. I learned about the different voting systems in Illinois.
I learned that while there may be different opinions on how it should be run, everyone agrees that local government is a must.
I learned many things in this program and I have learned than government affects everything. Learning about judges and traffic court was also very cool.
A grant was written for continuation dollars with the Illinois 4-H Foundation for the Tomorrow's Leaders Local Government Youth Academy program to be replicated in five counties in northwestern Illinois.
For more information, contact Cheryl Geitner at (309) 342-5108 or Terry Feinberg at (815) 616-5021.
- Cheryl Geitner
High School Students Explore Career Opportunities in Local Government
URBANA – High school freshmen and sophomores from Puerto Rico, Chicago, and Metro East St. Louis areas visited Springfield on June 26 to learn more about local and state government and focus on careers that serve the community. During the visit, they met with representatives of Township Officials of Illinois (TOI), the Illinois Municipal League (IML), and the Illinois Association of County Board Members and Commissioners (IACBMC).
The youth were part of a program sponsored by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) developed for under-served and economically disadvantaged students. RAP is an intensive two-week career exploration and academic enrichment experience which focuses on awareness of careers related to children, families, education, and communication.
Students eligible for RAP-I-C must rank in the top 25%; have a B average; display curiosity, cooperation, and work ethic in their references; and display an interest in learning about careers related to families, education, and communities.
Learning activities developed by staff in the Department of Human and Community Development at the University of Illinois help participants gain an understanding of the various careers paths associated with areas of interest related to families and community.
Staff from University of Illinois Extension introduced the students to the curriculum, Tomorrow's Leaders: Understanding Local Government. According to Ruth Ann Vokac, University of Illinois Extension Educator in 4-H and Youth, "This is a great group, lots of fun to work with. One of our activities was the Budget Game, and the young people expressed their frustration with making the budget balance while providing the services people need." One young woman said, "Now I understand that local officials have to work really hard and make hard decisions."
Bryan Smith and Jerry Crabtree of TOI spoke to the students on the three main functions of townships: help to the needy, property assessment for tax purposes, and the construction and maintenance of rural roads and bridges. Smith, who was once the youngest local official in the state, talked about how he ran for office, his experiences in campaigning, and how he learned to do the job of his elected position.
Gary Koch of IML discussed services municipalities provide to citizens such as maintaining sidewalks, curbs, and water and sewer infrastructures. "Many cities and villages offer parks, playgrounds, swimming pools, ballparks, and other recreational areas," said Koch. "You may not believe today that you would be a local official, but we hope you will consider it someday."
Kelly Murray and Taylor Anderson of IACBMC discussed the variety of careers involved with local government, such as engineering, law, accounting, education, health services, and community development. "There are so many opportunities for careers in local government – some elected, some appointed," said Murray. Anderson talked with the young people about how to get involved politically. "I was stuffing envelops and knocking on doors at the age of five."
The students toured the Illinois State Capitol and visited the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum to conclude their day of learning about public service in government.
