Young people from the region among those attending the conference in Jefferson City

The House of Representatives was recently in session and dozens of high school students stepped up to the microphone to hold a mock debate on legislation they had authored.

The students attended the Cooperative Youth Conference and Leadership Experience, or CYCLE program, sponsored by the Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives. The Cycle Conference is a leadership conference that began 21 years ago and spans several summer days filled with tours, contests, barbecues, group activities and speakers. Students from the Intercounty Electric Cooperative Association service area were among those in attendance.

According to Chris Massman, vice president of member services for the Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives, students were selected for the program based on their performance in an essay and speech competition.

“The goal of this was to educate the youth in our service areas, our co-op driven areas, about government education, education about electric co-ops, but most importantly to help them find the leadership qualities that are within them, work on personal development and really begin their kind of co-op journey,” Massman said.

As part of the event, the students will visit the state prison and local electric cooperatives. They will also get a chance to dip their toes in the law: State Representative Rudy Veit reserved the Missouri House Chamber for the 80 students to hold a mock debate on a number of bills they had drafted.

Students divided into 10 groups to discuss what they want to change locally or nationally, and then worked together to write legislation. The students are divided into a majority and minority party, known as the Volts, the Amps, and the Watts.

The parties met, presented their legislation and then voted on the debates.

A member of the Volts party proposed a bill to make the adoption process easier and more affordable.

As in a legislative session, the students were addressed by the “chair” (Massman) and asked their questions to the law clerk.

Students quickly discovered the difficulty of the legislative process. They discovered that there were linguistic loopholes in the bill that needed to be closed. They also worried about the requirements that potential adoptive families would have to meet in the interest of child safety. They also wondered where the money would come from if the fees were reduced.

They also showed that their experiences in the CYCLE program had made them think. While discussing whether a crime should disqualify someone from adoption, they brought up the experience of a former inmate they had overheard earlier that day during a prison tour.

They also had the opportunity to tour the Capitol Building and participate in other group activities during the remainder of the program.

“These kids are super talented, so there are four days where they can relax, make friends, have fun, but still learn something and take something away to better themselves,” Massman said.