From March 10 – 15, D.C. Everest Senior High School junior Gabriel “Gabe” Golbach participated in the prestigious Senate Scholar program in Madison.
Admission to this week-long educational program offered by the Wisconsin State Senate is competitive and limited to 33 academically exceptional high school juniors and seniors — one from each of the Wisconsin Senate districts. Gabe represented the 29th Senate district.
Gabe’s interest in government was sparked by the Advanced Placement government and politics course he took as a freshman with Aime Long. When he learned of the Senate Scholars program, he realized it was an “amazing opportunity to see the inner workings of our state government.”
The application process for the program is intense. Not only did he have to submit a resume, letters of recommendation and a letter of sponsorship from a State Senator, Gabe had to compose an essay concerning various legislative service agencies and complete a multiple-choice exam on Wisconsin.
The session exceeded Gabe’s expectations.
“I left with a deeper understanding of the people who keep the government running, as well as the little-known daily processes and interactions that occur‚ such as committee meetings and the Legislative Reference Bureau attorneys who draft bills for legislators,” he said.
Throughout the week, the Senate Scholars gained an up-close view of and hands-on experience in policy development, constituent relations and processing legislation by working with Senators, legislative staff and University of Wisconsin faculty.
The end of the week-long intensive learning session culminated with Senate Scholars holding a mock Senate committee hearing to pass legislation they had drafted as part of their lessons.
