A program that has been called innovative placing Oneida county high schoolers within county and city government is looking for students to join for the next school year. The program is operated through Oneida County UW-Extension.
4-H Youth Development Agent Lynn Feldman says Teens Active in Government, or TAG, enables youth to serve on either the Oneida county board of Rhinelander city council in the city's committee structure. Students come once a month to the county board meeting and are considered a member of the board. They are called upon to vote, though the vote is not binding on the outcome of the issue. While students can attend county committee meetings, most can't because of school. In Rhinelander, students attend the evening committee meetings.
Feldman says participating students have said they get much out of the experience...
"....they have a richer understanding of the process, they know what it takes to be fully informed on an issue. They recognize the time commitment on this and they feel more prepared to become engaged in civic issues later on...."
Feldman says the students then report back to the school...
".....at the end of the year, these students go back to their schools. The presentation for Lakeland Union High School is in a couple of weeks. They give it to a whole days worth of Social Studies classes. The teacher in the program says it's the one opportunity students get to understand what goes on in the government process at the local level....."
The Teens Active in Government County Board program is open to all current tenth and eleventh grade students in the county. The Rhinelander City Committee program is open to youth residing in the Rhinelander School District area.
Applications are available by contacting Lynn Feldman at the UW-Extension office.(715-365-2750) Application deadline is May 19th.
