March 26, 2010

Media Advisory -- Youth Government Day

Illinois state Rep. Jehan A. Gordon is the keynote speaker for the 10th annual Youth Government Day -- sponsored by Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s Paul Simon Public Policy Institute -- on Saturday, March 27. The daylong leadership event is at the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield.

Reporters and photographers are welcome to cover any and all events of this year’s Youth Government Day.

Approximately 150 students from more than 20 high schools from across Illinois will attend.

Gordon, D-Peoria, is serving her first term after winning election in 2008. Prior to her election, Gordon served on the Pleasant Hill School Board, and was a retention coordinator at Illinois Central College. She also previously worked at Bradley University’s Small Business Development Center. She earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

The event is designed to inspire students to explore careers in government, public policy politics and related fields.

The schedule is:

  • 9:30 a.m. -- Welcoming remarks, David A. Yepsen, director, Paul Simon Public Policy Institute. House Committee Room, 114.

  • 9:40 a.m. -- Panel discussion on careers in public policy. Moderated by David Yepsen. The panelists feature Sara Wojcicki, spokeswoman, Illinois House Republicans; Barton T. Lorimor, SIUC junior majoring in journalism and an intern for Rich Miller’s Capitol Fax newsletter; Samantha Gaddy, legislative assistant, Office of Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, andDina Timmons, field representative, Office of U.S. Sen. Roland Burris, and an SIUC graduate, and Collin Hitt, director of education policy for the Illinois Policy Institute and an SIUC graduate.

  • 10:45 a.m. -- Tours of the House Chamber, Senate Chamber, and Blue Room, with Bryen Johnson, Sen. President John J. Cullerton’s staff, an SIUC graduate; Kelly Newman, House Speaker Mike Madigan’s staff, and Daily Herald reporter John Patterson, an SIUC graduate.

  • 1 p.m. -- Keynote speaker, State Rep. Jehan A. Gordon, D-Peoria, in the Howlett Building Auditorium.

  • 2 p.m. -- Closing remarks, and complimentary independent tours of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum.

For more information, contact Matt Baughman, associate director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute, at 618/201-0082, or visithttp://www.paulsimoninstitute.org/.