Model Congress Week

Last week we had our annual Model Congress in the government classes. We divide into a House and Senate, and committees within each branch, and try to pass bills. Our bills were all proposed changes in the student handbook. I act as the president and, as always, I returned a few vetoes, about half of which were overridden. In the end, about 90% of the bills failed, and this is a good approximation of what happens in Congress. Some of the bills that passed would raise the number of unexcused tardies, allow for out-of-class cellphone use, allow seniors to go off campus for lunch, and create a volleyball team. We hope to meet with Principal Turner soon to go over the bills the passed - this always leads to interesting discussions, and last year did lead to a revision of the tardy policy.

Plans for the Iowa adventure are proceeding as we are developing our contacts in the campaigns. Our precise schedule will be a last minute one, given the fluidity of campaign schedules.

For our government students, we are exploring a proposed field trip to New Hampshire on January 8 to do exit polling at the NH primary. We have done exit polls for years at the Harwich elections, and assembled detailed analysis of voting trends. This trip to NH would be an excellent (and rare) opportunity for our students to witness history first hand. You can view the results of our past exit polls and surveys at a link off my school web page *under construction*: http://www.harwich.edu/depts/history/dickson/gov.html

Our Harwich STAND (Students Taking Action Now: Darfur) completed the DarfurFast the week before, and last week we totalled our fundraising which amounted to $714 which we will donate to the Genocide Intervention Network to aid the millions of Darfuri refugees from the genocide in Sudan. We received good press in the Cape Cod Times, the Cape Cod Chronicle, the Harwich Oracle, and at least two radio stations. I am very proud of the discipline and sacrifice of our members and their leadership in the school. Student activism gives me hope for the future.