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Mansfield Patch's Whiz Kids of the Week

Twelve MHS juniors represent Mansfield at 2011 Hockomock Model Senate.

On what seemed like a normal Friday morning in your typical American high school, a group of well-dressed politicians gathered for a day of debating. These were not your run-of-the-mill politicians, though some looked, acted and gestured like them. They were all high school students meeting for the annual Hockomock Model Senate at this year’s host, .

Model Senate has been a part of the (MHS) Social Studies curriculum since the 1960s. Every junior chooses a bill to debate in his or her class.

“Typically, in most courses, it’s about two to three days of research within the library and then it could be, depending on the size of the class, two to three days of organized debate within the classroom,” explained history teacher and Model Senate chaperone, Ben Caisse.

The students gain valuable skills from this project, which they find enjoyable because it's a break from the day-to-day classroom routine. Model Senate follows the Parliamentary rules, allowing the students to learn, understand and use the language and customs of hearings and meetings.

It also allows students to recognize and research current events and issues that are rarely addressed or acknowledged by teens.

“A lot of people like this project because they get to discuss real issues that are actually happening,” said MHS Junior and Hockomock Model Senate attendee, Matt Cioe. “They get to choose their own issue, they get to research it and then debate it.”

Debating is a valuable tool that is honed throughout the course of the Model Senate project. The students learn how to strongly and respectfully illustrate the pros of their arguments.

“We try to encourage them to create kind of air tight, loophole free laws and to really think of all the things that encompass these issues,” said Caisse, who plays devils advocate while the students are researching and beginning to write their bills.

Following a classroom debate, the best bills go on to round two in the MHS library. Approximately 50 students debate the top 15 best-written bills, narrowing the pool to 12 students and then the top two bills then go on to represent the school at the Hockomock Senate. These are the most well spoken and best debaters in the junior class.

The winners included an anti-abortion bill written by Rob Cappelletti and a bill to establish steroid testing on high school students written by Dan Gilmore and Chris Shields.

Some of the students expressed a higher level of confidence going into the Hockomock debate than they felt in their own school. Junior Derrion Walker said the MHS debate was more stressful because everyone knows everyone. There is a sense of anonymity at the Hockomock level that allows the students to really be themselves.

The Hockomock Model Senate is a two-day event. The individual schools or committees meet on the first day and then the Senate meets for an hour to decide which bills will be debated on day two.

Day two is when the students turn into politicians. The boys in their suits, some adorned with American flag lapel pins and the girls in their dresses or dress pants morph from carefree high school students into mature, well-spoken adults who could give better speeches than some politicians could. The 12 Mansfield participants exuded confidence and excitement at the chance to participate in a decades-old school tradition.

“It’s an opportunity to see them demonstrate what they’re actually capable of; to articulate their thoughts clearly, to defend themselves, to present their arguments with well-founded research,” said Caisse proudly. “It’s one of those unique opportunities to really see a student shine and that’s what this is about.”

Most of the 12 students expressed an interest in pursuing a career in which they could utilize the skills they honed through Model Senate.

Model Senate is imbedded in the curriculum at MHS and has a great deal of support from the administration but the Hockomock debate may be threatened by budget cuts in the future. Three schools that have always participated in the Hockomock event did not show up this year. Caisse could not confirm the reasons for their absence but those involved fear that funding for a bus and sub for the two-day event may be cut at some schools. The Norton students who attended had to take a van to MHS because they could not get their own bus.

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