State Sen. Yaw's Student Seminar Opens Window on Legislative Process

Published 05.23.2013

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    Panelists network and high schoolers enjoy juice and donuts − fuel for the brainwork ahead − as they prepare to tackle real-world issues in the Sen. Gene Yaw Student Government Seminar.Welcoming students to campus, Penn College President Davie Jane Gilmour introduces the senator to a Field House audience.Playfully goading students into participation, J. Andrew “Drew” Crompton asks who holds more sway in Harrisburg.A respondent − AKA "White Shirt Guy" − is rewarded with a cookie toss, just part of Crompton's entertaining engagement of students.Sen. Yaw previews a day filled with discussion and debate, as students prepare for breakout sessions with in-the-know power brokers.High school students from within the five counties of the commonwealth's 23rd Senatorial District (Bradford, Lycoming, Sullivan, Susquehanna and Union) visited Penn College on Thursday for state Sen. Gene Yaw’s annual Student Government Seminar. Begun almost 30 years ago by then-Sen. Roger A. Madigan, the daylong event provides students with a privileged peek into the Capitol's inner workings − through interaction with scores of elected officials, civic luminaries, lobbyists, media representatives and others. Before fanning out across campus to address such controversial topics as legalization of marijuana and drug-testing for participants in extracurricular activities, the students were schooled by J. Andrew “Drew” Crompton, chief of staff/counsel for Pennsylvania Senate President Pro-Tempore Joe Scarnati. Energetically working the Field House floor (the largest such venue he has ever faced), Crompton was part heckler, part auctioneer and thoroughly insightful as he helped students better understand the state Legislature's "push and pull." Just before lunch, a future Penn College student in attendance was announced as this year's recipient of the Peggy Madigan Memorial Leadership Scholarship.

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