Your Steps in Leadership Corps
Your mission: To learn as much as possible about Youth in Government and how the state government operates.
- Complete the required Preparation Kit
- Meet all deadlines
- Participate in all tours, trials, and seminars
- Attend pre-conference training event
- Adhere to the Code of Conduct
You will participate in small group, skill building, and leadership development activities that will enhance your role as an active citizen; you'll also make new friends along the way! As a member of the Leadership Corps, you will be introduced to each program area of Youth in Government through interactive activities and by watching it in action:
- Writing and Debating Legislative Bills
- Learning about the Court System
- Participating in and learning about Media
- Participating in Elections to select next year's Youth Officers
Which program area are you most curious about, and why?
What is Leadership Corps?
By the end of the conference, you will know more than you ever imagined about how the state government system works. Here are a few things to get you started:
Writing and debating bills
With all this talk about bills, you're probably wondering, "So who is this Bill guy anyway?" Well, since you're going to be spending so much time writing and debating bills, it's probably a good idea to give you some info about them.
A bill is any change in the state laws, or "draft legislation." Legislators use a special format for wording the draft so that it fits with existing laws. The laws are called statutes. When you put them all together, officially they are called the Minnesota or Wisconsin Statutes. Since our lives are always changing, the laws need to adjust, too.
The court system
The role of the courts is to interpret the law. Sounds easy, right? Wrong! The law can be very complicated depending on the situation at hand. You will learn through your participation that the way the judicial system operates and how a court hearing runs is different from what you see on TV. Each Leadership Corps group will have the opportunity to participate in a mock court experience.
Lobbying and lobbyists
Lobbyists are the movers and shakers of the political world. Lobbyists use their power and influence to mold and guide individual bills. A lobbyist's job is to ensure that a bill gets passed, defeated, or amended depending on their clients' interests. Lobbyists are the "lifeline" for Senators and Representatives as they debate legislation in committees and on the House, Assembly or Senate floors. The information they provide may help decide votes.
Media
Members of the media have the chance to witness, report on, and give editorial commentary on each area of the session and present their product to delegates, advisors, and the public. Newspaper members write, edit, design, and print newspapers for during Youth in Government. TV News Station members tape, edit, and produce nightly newscasts. Radio Station participants produce evening radio news and entertainment programs during the conference. Digital Media members take all other media coverage and aggregate it, plus compose a blog YIG.
Leadership Corps members will have the opportunity to observe the Youth in Government process first-hand and participate in practice legislative, executive, news media, and judicial experiences. This experience should help Leadership Corps members gain interest in a program area for future participation.
Your Prep Kit
The major project to get ready for Youth in Government is through the Preparation Kit (a.k.a. "Prep Kit"). Your work on this document (and your complete reporting of your findings) will help you be fully ready for discussion and debate at the conference.
Leadership Corps survey goals
- Introduce the beginning of the legislative process. Create one-on-one interaction between delegates and community members (youth and adult) on important issues.
- Guide the focus of delegates on topics important to their constituents.
- Identify and differentiate between local, regional, and state laws.
- Develop a better understanding of state issues and be prepared for meaningful debate.
Constituent survey overview
Each Leadership Corps delegate will individually survey twenty community members utilizing the attached documents.
Delegates should connect with a cross-section of the community they represent. These constituents can be peers and adults from their school, community, neighborhood, place of worship, etc. (Feel free to talk with your family about these topics, but do not use their responses in this project)
Delegates will tally their results and complete the Survey Debrief questions and submit them on the online registration system. These responses will not be accepted in paper format.
Constituent survey directions
- Define common terms and current state issues. These sheets may be completed on your own or your advisor may facilitate additional activities around these topics. Keep these sheets as they may be helpful references when starting conversations.
- Have conversations with peers or adults you know around the topics that they are interested in. Six topics have been identified so we can develop a big-picture look at important issues to the state. Take notes on the survey forms provided.
- Ask open-ended questions to get as much information about: why, to whom, how much, next steps, etc. For example: Why is alternative energy important to you? How can we make steps to becoming more energy efficient?
- Compile information from interviews on table provided and the Survey Debrief questions.
- Enter all the information from the Tallying and Debrief sections into Airtable, using instructions at the end of this section.
- Bring all documents with you to YIG for reference.
Definition of terms
Watch the video "How it Happens: State vs. Federal" to get started. Credit and thanks to David Gillette with TPT-TV.
What Makes Up Each Category?
What makes up each of these categories? Fill this portion out with the important parts of each topic.
Interview Twenty People
Use this form to conduct twenty constituent interviews with adults in your life (parents, aunts/uncles, teachers, neighbors, etc.). Follow up with the open-ended questions in the directions above to learn about the importance of topics in your community.
Tallying the responses
After completing interviews tally and total your feedback. The counts below update on their own from your interviews.
Survey summary
Please note the number of people interviewed in each category.
Survey debrief
After completing interviews, review your results and answer the questions below.
One tap copies your tally, summary and debrief answers, ready to paste into the matching boxes.
Submit Your Materials
You've completed the Leadership Corps Prep Packet! Great job! Your bills and debates at the conference will be all the stronger for it, now.
Now you need to submit your responses to Airtable. You will only be inputting information from the "TALLYING YOUR RESPONSES" and "SURVEY DEBRIEF" sections of the Prep Kit. You have been assigned a template on Airtable. The template will have a variety of text boxes. These text boxes will match the questions from these sections and you will be able to drop in your answers without issue. Fill in the content, section-by-section, with information from the last two pages of your Prep Packet.
Airtable has the capabilities for back-and-forth editing. It is possible for your materials to be reviewed by your Delegation Director and you may be given additional instructions/conditions to fulfill before the materials can be submitted to the State Office for distribution during Youth in Government. Please be prompt in completing your materials so you and the entire courts team can be well-prepared for Youth in Government. Plan ahead in case of technical difficulties.
It is strongly encouraged that you bring a printed and digital version of your materials with you to Youth in Government just in case something goes wrong.
Public Speaking Tips
Even when speaking one-on-one or in small groups (like you will do with your Prep Kit project), it is important to be prepared. Below are a few ideas that will make your information gathering process a breeze.
Outline your thoughts
- Know what you are going to say before you get up
- Jot down notes, use key words and not whole sentences. (When you have your lines written out that you may get stuck looking down at your paper the whole time)
- Be clear and concise. Do not go on and on, have a focus to your message
Rehearse
- Practice your comments in your head one time
Talk like you are having a conversation with a friend
- Feel confident in your presentation (Even if you are not, no one can "see" your nerves, so they may not even know if you are nervous!)
- Speak directly to your audience, eye contact is key!
Be heard!
- Speak with energy and emotion. Change volume and tone to illustrate your point
- Project your voice and remember not to mumble or talk too fast
Be respectful
- Tell your opinion without belittling other people or their views.
- If contradicting another view, state reasons, not just that you disagree.
I think/believe that ____ because ____
- Which is better: gum or mints?
- Who is the funniest comedian?
- Is it important to vote?
- Should people from other states be able to hunt in your state?
What's Next?
Before you pack up your surveys and the Leadership Corps newspaper, you should think about next year and what you might want to do.
If you really enjoyed advocating for bills... You may want to consider being a Lobbyist. (Minnesota YIG only)
A lobbyist is the person behind the scenes who pushes the legislative process. You probably had some experience with them in committees this year, and hopefully you got to talk to your own teammates. Lobbyists represent clients, and they try and get certain bills to pass or fail depending on how it affects their client's interests. You can use all your debating and negotiating skills to convince legislators to think your way one-on-one, or you can organize campaigns about legislation to reach whole groups. Your primary focus is still legislation and you also get to use your debating skills. If you like networking, have a cause you believe in passionately, and love to convince others to join your cause, being a lobbyist might be right for you. Note: Lobbyists are appointed, so don't forget to fill out your application!
If you liked passing bills and talking about local issues... You may want to consider being in the Legislature.
Legislators are the people who are in the forefront of the legislative process. They represent the people of the state and try to come up with ways that the government can serve them better; they make, change or get rid of laws. You get a chance to come up with your own good ideas for legislation and use your debating skills to get your bills passed. Your primary focus is legislation, but you also get to speak and debate in groups on the floor of the house and in committee. If you like coming up with new ideas for Minnesota or Wisconsin, enjoy debating and speaking in public, and want to improve our society, then being a legislator may be right for you!
If you like the debating part of this weekend... You may want to consider being in the Court Program.
The Court program gives you a lot of time to debate (our fancy word for arguing!). As an attorney, you represent one side of a case and try to convince a panel of judges that your arguments are better than the other side's. If you become a judge, you get to listen to the arguments of others and poke holes in them with your piercingly intelligent questions. It's all about the debate!
If you loved being a part of Youth in Government... You may want to become an Elected Officer or Appointed Official.
Youth Officers: Officers for the program are elected by participants in each program area at Youth in Government, to take office at the conclusion of the conference and complete their leadership the following year. Youth Officers preside in the program areas during YIG.
Appointed Officials: Shortly after Youth in Government, the newly elected Youth Officers appoint delegates to assist in the leadership of their program area. Some appointed positions include Floor Leaders, Committee Chairs, Administrators, Press Secretaries, and Presiding Judges/Justices.
Which path calls to you, and what is one thing you could do to get ready?