A real insider

Kevin Dugan, a 12th grader from East Rockaway High School, has been chosen to attend this year’s Students Inside Albany program sponsored by the League of Women Voters of New York State Education Foundation, Inc.

This ninth annual Students Inside Albany program will take place from April 10 through 13, and will bring approximately 40 students from across the state to Albany to get a first-hand education about their state government.

The program is designed to increase high school students’ awareness of their responsibility in representative government and provide information about the tools necessary for meeting that responsibility.

While at the conference, students will join their peers in a hands-on learning experience about how state government works. Students will participate in a series of interactive lectures on topics such as the state budget process, the role of lobbyists in the legislative process, citizen rights to access government information, the role of media in politics, and the move to reform state government. While in Albany, the students will have an opportunity to tour the state’s Capitol.

The highlight for most students will be to shadow their senators or assembly members for an afternoon, with many students getting the opportunity to attend session on the chamber floor.