Joshua and Nicholas Attend “TeenPact”

Last September I signed the boys up for a one day TeenPact class at our capitol in Salem.

We are less than a half hour away from the state capitol and this is the last year Joshua would be able to attend the one day class, since it is for kids ages 8 – 12,  so I signed them up. I didn’t tell them about it until a couple weeks before the class.

“What is TeenPact?”

They are a Christian organization whose goal is to train young people to understand the political process, engage their culture, love their liberty and defend their faith. Their motto is: “Changing Lives to Change the World”.

The class was from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. They were to write a “bill” prior to class and would be given the opportunity to present that “bill” to the mock legislature. They would each get a turn to act as representatives and senators.

The class was led by a group of men and women age 17 – 19 years old. They were professional, poised, well spoken and knew their topic thoroughly. It was wonderful to watch these young adults lead the younger people in learning.

The class began with a prayer walk through the capitol building. We were given the opportunity to each pray out loud for our service men and women, our representatives, senators, as well as our governor.

After that the kids were able to explore and learn about the capitol by participating in a scavenger hunt. One thing they were able to see is a section of the Oregon state flag that went to the moon with Apollo 11. There were even some tiny pieces of moon rock in the display. Did you know that each state was given this memento? Did you know that 30 of the states have no idea of the location of their moon rocks? Apparently they have lost these pieces of the moon!

In the afternoon we were treated to a skit performed by the capable teen leaders. It was actually quite humorous as the representative worked to pass his bill in the house only to then have to find a senator to co-sponsor his bill in senate. We were treated to candy by the lobbyist…..my own children were swayed by this tactic. We witnessed amendments made on the bill so that by the end, when the bill was passed, it barely resembled the original bill. Saturday morning cartoon “School House Rocks” couldn’t beat this skit.

Eventually it was time to step into the “well” and present their own bills.

Nicholas’ bill was to do away with the need of homeowners to possess a hunting license to hunt on their own property. It passed unanimously. No amendments.

Joshua worked hard to rid homeowners of property taxes. He argued that it isn’t fair that a retired homeowner, who had worked hard to pay off their home, should still be at risk of losing their home if they can’t pay property taxes. Another unanimous vote. No amendments.

Both of my boys did great jobs. They really got into the whole process. And let me tell you, it is a process. There are strict rules to follow and exact speech that must be spoken.

My boys would stand up (as a member of congress), when they felt the desire, and ask the chair, “May I approach the well?” (this is asked when you want to share your thoughts on a particular bill if the well is empty) If the well was occupied they needed to ask , “Would the gentleman/lady yield to a question?”. (that allows one question to be asked). Sometimes they thought an amendment to the bill was necessary and then they would say to the chair, “I move to amend the bill.”

It was a lot of fun. They thought it was interesting that you vote to decide if you are going to vote on the bill.

We all learned a lot. TeenPact also offers a four day class for older kids. I think it is something we will plan and save for so that both of them can attend in a couple of years.

In case you didn’t know, the Oregon state animal is the beaver. This is a statue of the beaver family. Joshua noted that the White Witch must have turned them to stone (Narnia reference)

I love that homeschooling allows such a wide variety of learning and that I get to learn alongside my boys.

Enjoy your liberty,
Karen