When the meeting was called to order in the Cattaraugus County Legislative chamber in Little Valley, NY on Wednesday, December 20, 2006, it was the Cattaraugus County Government Interns who were in charge of the day. Twenty students from six different school districts in Cattaraugus County participated in this year’s County Government Internship program. The 15-week County Government program, offered to area seniors in each county, is sponsored by Cattaraugus-Allegany BOCES under the direction of Lynne Yehl.
The County Government Internship program has sponsored by BOCES for more than 25 years. This program is designed to deepen student understanding of the role of county government. Student interns meet weekly with legislators, department heads, and various committee members under the guidance of County Intern teacher, Warner Page. The students become acquainted with the functions of each branch of county government, the procedures for introducing new legislation, and the roles of the various departments in each branch.
The culminating activity requires each student to create a resolution and present it at the mock legislative session. The participating students have the opportunity to test their powers of persuasion as they orally present their resolutions for a vote. The resolutions must pertain to issues related to county government and must pass the approval by the County Attorney. In order to create an effective resolution, the students research a topic of interest to obtain background information and pertinent data. This year, the resolutions included recommendations to improve traffic safety, update the County’s financial software program, equalize the distribution of the bed tax revenue, and utilize volunteer help for various community service projects.
Students participating in the program were:
- Cattaraugus-Little Valley – Kim Colantino, Melissa Paris
- Franklinville Central School –Kimberly Dominessy, Jonathan Hall, Dana Phillips, Rae Lee Price, Blake Slagle
- Pioneer – Aaron NortonPortville Central School – Annie Blicharz, Kathy Caza, Alyssa McCutcheon
- Randolph Central – Brooke Adams, Tanya Coleman, Sara Flaherty, Julia Kinney, Shelby Loop, Stephanie Roosa
- West Valley – Erica Benson, Dakota Colf, Rebecca Roach
The County Government Intern Program is funded by the BOCES component schools and through grant funding from the NYS Division for Youth in both Allegany and Cattaraugus Counties. Students from Allegany County will begin their program on January 22 and openings are still available.
For further information about the County Government program you may contact Lynne Yehl at (716) 376 – 8297 or Warner Page at (716)376 – 8202.
