This was the 18th such seminar led by Yaw, whose predecessor Roger Madigan, who originated the event in 1985.

Several state and local officials participated as panelists during the seminar, including state representatives Jamie Flick, R-South Williamsport and Joe Hamm, R-Hepburn Township, city Mayor Derek Slaughter and the Sullivan County Commissioners, as well as officials from the state departments of Environmental Protection, Labor & Industry, Agriculture and Conservation & Natural Resources, just to name a few.

“What an incredible opportunity for you to be able to get a better understanding of what occurs and how it occurs in Harrisburg,” said Penn College President Dr. Michael J. Reed, who spent the first 21 years of his career as a history teacher and high school principal.

“We need incredible leaders, and I really appreciate our leaders stepping up to be here to help develop that next generation of tomorrow makers,” he said.

“You’re not going to learn everything about government today, but I hope you learn a little bit about government interaction with people,” Yaw said in his remarks, adding that the students may even make new friends.

“One thing I hope you take away from this is the meaning of the word compromise,” he told the students.

“When you start discussions about a bill, just think about compromise and what that means in everything you do and what you read about or hear or see on TV,” Yaw stressed.

“It’s really encouraging to see the interest in it, and if you notice how the students are dressed today, I think it’s amazing. Most of the guys have suits, are wearing ties, and the girls are very dressed up, and I think that’s a reflection on the importance this has for them,” Yaw told the Sun-Gazette.

“To hear the questions they had during the initial presentation, they’re interested, and that encourages me to think there’s a lot of young people out there that really care about what happens,” he said.

“My challenge is for them to just take one thing out of what they hear or learn here today, I will consider it to be a real success for everybody,” the Senator said.

One of those things Yaw hoped for the students to take away from the experience is that those in power are still just people.

“It’s an opportunity for the students to meet with people in these positions and find out that maybe they’re just ordinary people doing a particular job, and to interact with them,” Yaw said.

During a spirited, interactive presentation titled The Dynamics of the Legislative Process, for Commonwealth Judge Drew Crompton, Esquire implored the students to think through the issues put before them.

“I want you to focus today, who’s batting first, batting second and batting third,” Crompton told the students, likening the branches of government to a baseball or softball game.

“All have advantages, all have disadvantages. Today, the onus is on you, because you start the process, but you have to think about who’s batting next and who’s batting third, because the way you draft that bill is going to be determined, whether the governor signs it, whether the judges, if they challenge the bill, would, in fact, uphold it,” he told the students.

Some of the mock bills the students were charged with bringing to a vote included recreational marijuana legalization, prohibition of artificial intelligence in schools, social media bans for minors and restriction of cell phone usage in schools, among others.

While all topics being discussed are timely in manner, some reflect legislation currently being worked on by local leaders, such as the “Youth Sports Accessibility Act,” under which an up to $3,000 tax credit would be created to offset costs of equipment, travel and team fees.

That bill mirrors a bill Flick is currently working to promote in Harrisburg.

“With the new ball fields being constructed and all of the athletic opportunities for youth in our area, it only makes sense to make these opportunities available to as many children as possible,” the representative told the Sun-Gazette.

“I’m on the Children and Youth Committee, so that alone, anything happening with kids is of great interest to me, and to see so many students interested and actively involved at this seminar really restores my faith in young people,” Flick said.

For Loyalsock Township High School students, Nadia Ghayyada, Morgan Maggs and Margaret Lundy, the seminar offered both a chance to learn more about governmental processes and possible future endeavors.

“I’ve really been interested in government, and Mr. (Kirk) Bower gave me the opportunity last year to attend con con and Model UN at Penn College, so when he presented this opportunity to go to Senator Yaw’s day, it really piqued my interest, as you get to learn more about law and be a part of sessions where you can talk about bills and discuss them as a group and really learn about it,” Ghayyada said.

“I’m hoping to learn the fundamentals of government and really connect with my peers and my mentors that are going to be in the group and really learn a lot about law and see what all it has to offer in my future,” the 10th grader said.

“I’m looking to be a defense attorney once I finish school, so I figured being able to see the process of law-making would be a good thing for that. Plus, it’s just good to be informed, Maggs said.

Getting to experience that process firsthand was a major draw for Maggs, an 11th grader.

“I have a passion for environmental issues and I saw that there were a lot of bills that involved that, so I wanted to be a part of it in order to see what the Senate was really like and get a feeling for how environmental law would actually be,” said Lundy, who has also previously attended mock trials and ConCon.

“I’m excited to see what opportunities are available for high school, college and even beyond that, and to see what it really is like to be inside of the Senate,” the 10th grader said.

The energy and engagement of the students was palpable to the participating panelists.

“Seeing these kids who are incredibly bright, thoughtful and eager to talk about changes and these big societal issues, is really inspiring as somebody who’s doing this work, knowing that there’s a good generation coming after us to continue the work,” said state Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Jessica Shirley.

Watching the students at work was reminiscent of where her spark for public service started.

“I love this event and events like this because it takes me back to when I was their age, and what inspired me to someday go be a public servant in state government,”

“When I was in ninth grade, I had my state legislator come talk to me, and it was so eye-opening to learn about what he did, that that became a goal of mine, to just work in state government,” Shirley said.

“This is such a great opportunity for high school students to really see what government’s like and what the process is, and to listen to them and how they reason out the bills,” Secretary of Labor & Industry Nancy Walker said, while complementing Yaw on the event and expressing gratitude for being a part of it.

“With all those different points of view that they can all get into a room and come to consensus, and coming from so many different schools,” the secretary said.

“They all took this very seriously, and were talking about cases that were out there and other programs and different policies in the schools and bills that have already been proposed. It was really fascinating to watch,” Walker said.