Forbes Forum

Student Statesmanship Institute came to Midland.

James Muffet, founder of SSI called me in late summer to see if SSI could come to Midland. Because there were minimum and maximum numbers needed, we teamed up with Midland Christian School and Christian Homeschool Educational Ministries (CHEM) to put this on. Most of the students (and sessions) were at MCS and the final session was at CBA.

Students were divided into two political parties (Red & Blue) then further divided into four committees. Each committee was assigned a bill to support and a bill to oppose. Study helps were supplied by SSI and the students prepared for two school days for the final (combined) legislative session. Each student gave at least one, one minute speech and all the bills were voted upon. During one of the preparatory sessions, community leaders came in to give "testimony" on the bills.

It was a SUPER experience for the kids. They learned about the legislative process, about the complexity of writing laws, about applying Christian values in a civic environment, about learning to be a team with people they did not know... and SO much more! I learned how much work students can do given high expectations, proper motivation and instruction. (Of course school cannot move at that pace on a regular basis). We go some good press in the Midland Daily News (Nov 2 issue--you can check it out on line).