HERKIMER - Six high-school students in Herkimer County recently completed the Cornell Cooperative Extension 4-H Government Intern program that aims to get youth involved in the community and teach about local government.
Over the course of two months, students took part in a variety of activities including attending a Herkimer County Legislature meeting, having a one-on-one discussion with a county legislator, learning about government jobs and processes, hearing from guest speakers, developing a group project about the need for more childcare in Herkimer County and presenting their plan during a simulated Herkimer County Legislature meeting.
“I’m really hoping that after going through this, they will be active in their adult lives in their local political process, stay informed and make educated decisions,” said Wendy Richardson, 4-H program educator for Cornell Cooperative Extension of Herkimer County. “I hope that they continue to care about what’s going on around them.”
The Cornell Cooperative Extension 4-H Government Intern program takes place each spring and fall and is open each session to up to four students per school district from any school in the Herkimer County region. The spring 2022 session wrapped up on Tuesday, March 29, with a luncheon at the Herkimer County Office Building and the simulated Herkimer County Legislature meeting in the legislative chambers.
Three of the students in the program were Poland Central School District seniors: Nathan Draper, Adam Nellis and Gabrielle Ross. The others were Mount Markham Central School District senior Kestrel Zimpel, Richfield Springs Central School District junior Emily Diotte and Central Valley Central School District senior Brianna Holtz, who attends the Herkimer-Fulton-Hamilton-Otsego BOCES Valley Pathways in Technology Early College High School (VP-TECH).
The simulated meeting
During the simulated Herkimer County Legislature meeting, Draper served as the legislature chairman, Nellis acted as the vice-chairman and Ross, Zimpel, Diotte and Holtz took on the role of legislators.
All of the students participated in a presentation of their proposed plan to turn a local building into a childcare center. The students discussed funding, renovations, staffing, the timeline, community benefits and more. They then read the resolution and took a simulated roll call vote to approve the plan.
Students then thanked Herkimer County legislators, their teachers, parents, chaperones and others. Herkimer County Administrator James Wallace and Herkimer County Legislator Peter Mano were in attendance for the meeting.
“You kids did a good job,” Mano said, after the presentation, before he and Richardson presented students with certificates.
Mano said they didn’t have a program like this when he was in school.
“I wish they did,” he said. “I had to learn the hard way coming up. It’s a good program.”
Wallace told the students that in his more than 40 years with the county government, they put on one of the best presentations he has seen from this program and had the best grasp of the issue he has seen.
“Great job,” Wallace said.
The students
Near the end of the simulated meeting, Nellis said he had questioned whether he wanted to join the program but was glad he did.
“It proved to be extremely valuable and extremely informative,” he said.
Nellis said visiting the Herkimer County Office Building during the day allowed students to see people during their work day.
“The program really gave a good view of how the government works and what it would be like if you worked for the county,” he said.
Draper said he enjoyed the opportunity to learn from the county legislators.
“I think that meeting the legislators and getting their perspective and point of view about how government works was the best part of the program,” he said.
Ross said she appreciated the chance to learn about the local government and about internship and job opportunities that could be available if students want to take their careers in that direction.
“I really liked that,” she said.
Zimpel also found the program insightful.
“I thought it was very interesting learning about how the legislators in our community impact the taxes that we pay, and it was also interesting learning how the pandemic directly impacted our community,” Zimpel said.
Diotte said she was thankful that an exception was made to allow her to participate in the program as a junior, and she liked finding out more about local government.
“This gave me the opportunity to learn about things that impact me that I wouldn’t have otherwise known impacted me,” she said.
Holtz said she expects she will be able to apply aspects of what she learned during the program to both school government and academics.
“I think the most valuable part for me was I learned a lot about local government that I can bring back to my home school,” she said.
The program
The Cornell Cooperative Extension 4-H Government Intern program has been going in Herkimer County since the late 1990s and is one of only four such programs in the state still operating through 4-H, said Richardson, who has been with the program for 11 years.
It has been nice this spring to have a more normal program, Richardson said. When COVID-19 caused schools to close to in-person instruction in March 2020, the spring program had to end for that school year. Then for the next sessions, Richardson recorded video interviews to share with school social studies teachers in place of having the program. In fall 2021, the program resumed, but students were still wearing masks and had to deal with COVID-19 quarantines.
Students meet four times during the program, have a one-on-one interview with a county legislator, attend at least one Herkimer County Legislature meeting and are introduced to potential future internship and job opportunities, Richardson said.
At the end of April, students from the fall and spring will travel to Albany to visit with local state representatives and could be recognized on the floor if state legislators are in session, Richardson said.
Students were also recognized during the Herkimer County Legislature meeting they attended. Legislators were helpful and stopped and explained the process of their meeting to students, Richardson said.
“They’ve been great supporters,” she said.
Six high-school students in Herkimer County who recently completed the Cornell Cooperative Extension 4-H Government Intern program pose with their participation certificates and Herkimer County Legislator Peter Mano on Tuesday, March 29, in the Herkimer County Legislature’s chambers. From left: Mount Markham senior Kestrel Zimpel, Central Valley/Herkimer BOCES VP-TECH senior Brianna Holtz, Poland senior Gabrielle Ross, Poland senior Nathan Draper, Mano, Poland senior Adam Nellis and Richfield Springs junior Emily Diotte.
From left: Poland Central School District seniors Nathan Draper and Adam Nellis serve as the chairman and vice-chairman during a simulated Herkimer County Legislature meeting on Tuesday, March 29, as part of the Cornell Cooperative Extension 4-H Government Intern program for Herkimer County.
Six high-school students in Herkimer County operate a simulated Herkimer County Legislature meeting on Tuesday, March 29, as part of the Cornell Cooperative Extension 4-H Government Intern program for Herkimer County.
Poland Central School District senior Nathan Draper poses with Herkimer County Legislator Peter Mano after receiving a participation certificate from the Cornell Cooperative Extension 4-H Government Intern program for Herkimer County on Tuesday, March 29.
Poland Central School District senior Adam Nellis poses with Herkimer County Legislator Peter Mano after receiving a participation certificate from the Cornell Cooperative Extension 4-H Government Intern program for Herkimer County on Tuesday, March 29.
Poland Central School District senior Gabrielle Ross poses with Herkimer County Legislator Peter Mano after receiving a participation certificate from the Cornell Cooperative Extension 4-H Government Intern program for Herkimer County on Tuesday, March 29.
Mount Markham Central School District senior Kestrel Zimpel poses with Herkimer County Legislator Peter Mano after receiving a participation certificate from the Cornell Cooperative Extension 4-H Government Intern program for Herkimer County on Tuesday, March 29.
Richfield Springs Central School District junior Emily Diotte poses with Herkimer County Legislator Peter Mano after receiving a participation certificate from the Cornell Cooperative Extension 4-H Government Intern program for Herkimer County on Tuesday, March 29.
Herkimer BOCES VP-TECH student Brianna Holtz, a senior at Central Valley, poses with Herkimer County Legislator Peter Mano after receiving a participation certificate from the Cornell Cooperative Extension 4-H Government Intern program for Herkimer County on Tuesday, March 29.
Wendy Richardson, 4-H program educator for Cornell Cooperative Extension of Herkimer County, speaks on Tuesday, March 29, to Herkimer County students in the Cornell Cooperative Extension 4-H Government Intern program.