By Owen Pennington

I learned a lot at the 2024 Youth and Government conference in Columbus, including about the power of dance.

For those who don’t know, CMSD has a program called Civics 2.0, in which students have opportunities to get politically involved in their communities with programs like voter registration and activism.

At the end of this program, students have an opportunity to attend the YMCA’s Youth and Government conference, where they write bills and go through a mock government session with students serving as elected officials, including the governor and the Ohio Legislature.

At the conference, I served as Ohio Attorney General, evaluating the constitutionality and validity of the bills presented to me. In doing so, I got to see just how much of my passion for law was shared among my peers. It was really refreshing having insightful conversation in the court with the judges and defense regarding the bills. There was plenty of debate regarding bills referring to arms trade, education policy, and more.

For example, a bill regarding expansion of healthcare options was presented to us and was deemed unconstitutional. However, I met with the bill author in question and made amendments in order to make it constitutional. Thus, seeing her hard work come to fruition through the purifying furnace of the judicial court was definitely one of the highlights of my experience there.

All in all, what really made the experience memorable was my interaction with my fellow students. It went from simple things like going out to eat with members of my school to flailing wildly on the dance floor at the end of it all. The most fun I had, however, was with my campaign for re-election as Youth Attorney General for next year’s conference. 

My campaign relied specifically on two things: Slogans and dancing. I really tried to put myself out there for this conference, and with the confidence I got from my peers, I really dove into it. There was an especially popular gesture I did where I pointed to my watch, put my sunglasses on and said I was “on that time.” Expressing myself like that to a lot of people was really unfamiliar but it just seemed so natural! I felt my inhibitions melt away as folks encouraged me to have fun with it. 

And regarding the dancing, let’s just say I’m glad I don’t have any evidence to show you, (I was not very good), but it wasn’t about being good at all. It was about building a community that transcended my school, even my school district. In the chaos of the music and getting in the middle of our makeshift mosh pits, I had never bonded more with other students.

It’s events like these that allow students to shine and reap what they’ve sown. Kids like me who socialize and network to better their future. Kids who don’t get the appreciation they deserve for their talents are applauded and recognized at these conferences. It’s even bred full-ride Ivy League students (one of whom is a writer for this blog!) If we continue to fund these programs in which CMSD students are surrounded by people who are driven and invested in the success of themselves and others, I see a bright future ahead.

CMSD doesn’t fund Civics 2.0 for arbitrary reasons. It's because its product benefits everyone: the product being the students who go through it. The chasm between public, urban school district kids and the political scene in Ohio gets narrower and narrower with every year that this program is run. And it’s not just a matter of representation, but a reversal of mis-education on the way politics and government works.

As citizens and future leaders of this country, we are empowered to vote and encourage others to do so. We shall be the ones to voice the necessity of political participation to each and every individual in our schools. My experience is just one of many. Dontavius Jarrells, representative for District 1 in the Ohio House, attended the conference. He talked to us about his humble beginnings and the adversity he had to go through that led him here. He stressed the importance of access to a high-quality education.

I would argue that these conferences are the finest example of what he was describing. Civics 2.0 is about building skills among students, and demystifying our political system. And the Youth and Government conference bridges the divide between public and private school kids under a structure of debate and conversation about issues we’re passionate about. We, the students, are the crown jewels of the CMSD. The state's future relies on us to be the leaders of tomorrow.