Students Speak Up at Legislative Days

Not all of the 96 Door County delegates attending Legislative Days were issue experts, municipal leaders or political junkies. Some of them were barely voting age.

Students from Sturgeon Bay High School and schools in Kewaunee County attended Door and Kewaunee County Legislative Days, where county residents discuss key issues with state leaders at the Capitol. On Wednesday, May 15 they woke up before the sun to board a school bus and ride to Madison to meet with state agencies and legislators about local issues. (Read the agenda here.)

Students attending Door and Kewaunee County Legislative Days.

“It gives students the experience of being involved in the community, knowing what voting rights are and the importance of researching who you’re voting for,” said Sturgeon Bay High School teacher Michelle Gibson.

Gibson teaches business classes, and has been preparing students in two of her business classes to attend Legislative Days for weeks. They studied the issues and practiced talking points, preparing for the afternoon of walking through the Capitol halls and meeting with state legislators and their staff.

It’s the kind of lesson Gibson said she just can’t teach in a classroom.

Most points on the Legislative Days agenda weren’t foreign to the students. Many see the need to address low water levels and school funding and some, like senior Spencer Gustafson, understand issues first hand.

Gustafson is an enthusiastic employee of Door Peninsula Winery – he even pointed out the winery’s billboards from inside the bus. He left his classmates to sit in on the state agency meeting where Rob Pollman of Door Peninsula Winery and Tim Lawrie of Simon Creek Winery discussed the regulation that forces them to sell wine through a distributor.

“[De-regulation] definitely needs to happen,” Gustafson said. “The idea of us not being able to distribute wine to our own locations is kind of a joke.”

But encouraging legislators to support Door and Kewaunee County isn’t all students got from attending Legislative Days. They directly addressed state leaders, experienced being both welcomed and ignored by those leaders, and were part of a grassroots event that brings positive change to their communities.

“I want to be a part of things that happen,” said junior MacKenzie Roberts on the way to Madison. Roberts plans on becoming a dental hygienist, but was drawn by the idea of joining the effort to help Door and Kewaunee Counties.

Roberts was most interested in school funding and beach water testing. After meeting with legislators, she remarked on how well they responded to the students’ concerns.

“People are open to listening as long as you have something to share,” she said.

On the ride to Madison, senior Zaland Wardak knew he would be asking legislators from other districts to give state resources to Door County. On the way back, he was taken with how open they were to helping across county lines.

“It’s nice to know you have these sorts of representatives,” Wardak said. “Even if a legislator isn’t from our county they still have a sort of sympathy and connection to our issues… The cohesiveness of the whole place is really attractive.”

The enthusiasm of the students attending Legislative Days broke the stereotype of selfish, uninvolved teenagers, but Gibson knew that all along.

“They are passionate about what they are passionate about,” Gibson said. “They’re really honored the community would accept them positively like this, instead of like rotten apples.”

To read more about legislative days, click here>>