County Government Day At Red Cloud, Nebraska
Juniors Head To County Seat To Learn About The Government
by Meghan Rockefeller
November 26, 2011
On Monday, November 21, 2011, the Silver Lake Junior Class, along with Red Cloud and Blue Hill students, visited Red Cloud, Nebraska for County Government Day. The county seat of Webster County is located in Red Cloud, and served as the host site for juniors in Webster County learn more about the history of the county government and how things in a courtroom really work.
The students began the day by splitting into two groups. One group went and watched an interesting presentation on the history of the county government. The second group went into a courtroom and experienced how the courtroom really works on "court day." Some of Silver Lake's very own students played roles in the courtroom. In group one, Catarino Perez took the role of the plaintiff, while Laurann Boyd, Nikki Blumenthal, and Zach Polk were members of the jury. In group two, Mackenzie Skupa took the role of the plaintiff; Keenan Danehey was the defendant; and Tyler Horton, Meghan Rockefeller, Sydney Meyer, and Kasey Johnson were part of the jury.
Keenan Danehey stated, “Going to the County Government Day was a great experience. The role of the defendant was a good way of learning how the courtroom of a small county works.”
The annual trip to Red Cloud is taken every year by Silver Lake's Social Studies teacher Nathan Dietz. It has really influenced Silver Lake’s junior class, as last year after attending, student Stef Perez enlisted in the army through her piqued interest in how our county and country are being operated on a day-to-day basis. This year proved just as interesting as our students learned about just how real the feel of a small county courtroom is, as well as learning how our county government system got started.
