325 students from many local school districts took over the State House this past weekend for Student Government Day. Lynn English, Lynn Classical, and Swampscott High School were all represented by students eager to learn more about a potential career path in state government.
Swampscott students Morgan Bilodeau and Madeline Lilley served as honorary representatives for the town’s inaugural year participating in the event.
“It was so exciting to see the House of Representatives filled with enthusiastic and engaged young people who care very much about public policy,” state Rep. Jenny Armini said. “It was especially satisfying, obviously, to have two really talented, engaged, young women from Swampscott.”
Students were presented with two hypothetical pieces of legislation, one from the Senate and one from the House. They then assumed the role of legislators as they discussed and debated the issues with each other.
“There’s one student who serves as a speaker, one who serves as a clerk,” Armini explained. “It’s really about them taking on the role and learning by doing.”
Armini added that a goal of the program is for students to take what they have learned back to their schools and continue to grow interest among their peers. She thanked Swampscott High School Principal Dennis Kohut for getting Swampscott involved in this capacity.
Kohut said he jumped at the opportunity when he received an email from Armini’s office. He thanked Kaitlyn Thomas, a teacher at Swampscott High School, for accompanying Bilodeau and Lilley.
“It’s a great experience for them to be able to go in and see government in action and meet people,” Kohut said. “Both are great kids interested in helping others and public service.”
Armini said that the hands-on approach helps “demystify” government to the students, and hopefully makes it easier for them to comprehend.
Peter Spiliakos, a social studies teacher at Lynn Classical, has been participating in Student Government Day for around nine years.
He said his favorite part about the event is the interactions students from different schools and districts are able to have with each other.
“The perspectives of students from the very large school systems were very different from those from the more rural systems and the very small school systems,” Spiliakos said. “So, they were not only discussing bills, they were also learning from other students about how their experiences of life are different and how the laws would impact different places differently.”
Spiliakos said that each year, two students are selected to go, either through volunteering for the event or through an election if the demand is high enough.
This year’s Lynn Classical representatives were seniors Axil Ortiz Sabillon and Andrea Lopez-Gil. The representatives from Lynn English were seniors Rihanna Joseph and Jasmin Jimenez.
