Youth Government Day Reviews

Teachers from across the state have commented on the importance Youth Government Day has played in helping motivate and teach students about careers in government and about the critical need for civic engagement beginning at a young age.

One such teacher is Paul Hanrahan, the Johnsburg High School student council advisor. He has made the more than six hour trip from near the Wisconsin border several different years because he feels Youth Government Day is a quality program with an important mission. Following his participation one year he wrote: “The students left the conference with a new sense of the importance and dignity of public service. I would not be at all surprised if future leaders in state and national government include your youth leadership conference as a formative and influential event in their lives.”

In 1999, Tiffany Knoebel, then a 16-year old Waterloo High School student, wrote: “Before this session, I hadn't known what I wanted to do after high school. However, since leaving SIUC that day, I now have a better idea of what field I want to go into --government.”