|
January-February 2007 Selected Content
An Interview Leila Giles and Celeste Land - Mary Nix
While reading "A Night on the Couch" at the Life Without Schooling Blog by Celeste Land, I found myself smiling as I read the description of her daughter Leila's many accomplishments. I wrote to Celeste immediately to see if she and Leila would like to participate in an interview, and to my delight they agreed.
Leila Giles (15) and her brother Adam Giles (11) have always been homeschooled. They live in Vienna, Virginia with their Dad, Kent Giles and Mom, Celeste Land. They have grown up hearing accounts of homeschooling bills and strange doings in the state legislature from their Mom who is the chair of the Government Affairs Committee for the Organization of Virginia Homeschoolers (VaHomeschoolers).
Leila has served as a page with the Virginia General Assembly, produced a documentary, and created a board game, among many other things. I began by asking Leila when she first became interested in politics?
Leila: When I was nine I completed a Girl Scout patch program called "Election Connection." It was 2000, an election year, and I got pretty interested in the presidential race. On Election Night I stayed up late to watch the results come in. I think I should recognize Florida for making that an exciting night. "Blue! Red? Um...neutral. No, blue again-wait! Red. No..."
Mary: What prompted you to create "The Homeschooling Bill Game" when you were nine years old?
Leila: I've always loved board games. At the time, my mom was writing an article for the VaHomeschoolers Newsletter on how kids can learn about government, and someone suggested that she include a game. One of the activities for Election Connection was a board game about becoming president, and that inspired me to create my own game.
Mary: Can you tell us more about the game?
Leila: The Homeschooling Bill Game is easy to play, but hard to win, just like passing a bill in real life. The players must travel over spaces representing the many steps of law making, starting with talking to your Delegate, then going through committees and being "on the floor," and all the way to the Governor. Whenever someone lands on a place where the bill is discussed they must roll a die. Depending on the number rolled, the bill can pass, take amendments or die, in which case the player must start over from the beginning. Ouch!
Celeste: After the board game was published in the VaHomeschoolers' Newsletter, Leila purchased counters, dice, and other supplies in bulk and packaged the game for sale to other homeschoolers. She learned a great deal about economics and supply and demand from pricing the materials and marketing the game. We've also given copies of the game as gifts to then-Governor Warner and some of our state legislators.
Mary: When you were 12 you co-produced "Voting Machines: Past, Present, and Future" Can you tell us more about that?
Leila: When I co-produced the Voting Machine documentary with my friend Elizabeth Angel, it was the largest project I'd ever done. I spent about a total of 40 hours researching, writing, filming and (my least favorite) editing. We had been told by my mom about a documentary video contest that C-SPAN was having, called CampaignCam, and that we could pick a topic that would be important in the upcoming (2004) election. We figured the voting process itself was of interest, and so we started investigating. We interviewed my state delegate, the folks at the board of elections, and a political science professor about how a variety of voting machines work.
When we sent the ten minute video to C-SPAN, Elizabeth and I didn't think we had any chance of winning. You can imagine our surprise when we were called and told that we had won second place! The documentary was shown on C-SPAN, and I was interviewed on a show they did about the contest. It was very, very exciting!
Mary: What did you enjoy most about producing the documentary?
Leila: The best part was the filming. I liked interviewing people, and we got to do some pretend voting with several different machines, including the infamous "butterfly ballot." One of the electronic demos let us vote for Robin Hood or Friar Tuck! I believe we chose a write-in for Maid Marian...
Mary: You have served as a page in the state legislature. How did you become involved with Virginia's Page Program? Would you recommend it to others?
Leila: I had heard about some homeschoolers (now adults) who were pages for the Virginia House of Delegates several years ago. It sounded like a unique experience...and I would be paid! To apply, I got a letter of referral from my delegate, and wrote a resume. Two of my friends also applied, but were rejected. I later discovered that there's approximately a 1 in 6 chance of getting into the program, so I was lucky!
I would recommend being a page, but it's not for everyone. I spent nine weeks away from home except for weekends, and almost every minute of the day had a schedule. I had to be at work at 8:30 each morning, and all day I could only be in places I was assigned to go. There were some days that involved mainly sitting in the Page Room playing cards. (I'll never play "Egyptian Ratscrew" again!) We pages had free time from 5-7pm which was for dinner, and then a mandatory two hour study hall to keep up with our school work. Sometimes we got to use the hotel pool afterwards, but mostly we were so tired we finished the day by watching TV.
Mary: What did you enjoy most about participating in the state page program?
Leila: The work we got to do could be a lot of fun. I worked for Committee Operations for a few weeks, and ran papers to a ton of offices. On the House floor I heard pieces of many debates, ranging from fascinating to boring to absurd! ("What IS the legal definition of a crosswalk?") Session started at 12 noon, and all the delegates were hungry, so we got to be waiters and bring food from the cafeteria.
There were quite a few funny moments too. Once, nearly a dozen pages were all recording survey answers for one of the delegates, and some people had recorded pretty odd priorities. Someone even drew little pictures to illustrate their opinion. Valentine's Day was a blast. The third floor competed against the seventh floor to see who had the best decorations and games. One of the delegates even sang karaoke!
Mary: How can others learn more about state page programs in their state?
Celeste: If you're interested in page program opportunities, contact your local legislator or search your state legislature webpage. Page programs vary significantly from state to state. For instance, Virginia pages come from all over the state and live in a hotel during the week, but in other states pages must commute daily from home to the state capital. Also, the Virginia page program lasts seven to nine weeks, but pages elsewhere may only serve for a day or a week.
Mary: Celeste, certainly your hands-on involvement as chair of the Organization of Virginia Homeschoolers Government Affairs Committee has provided a wonderful window into the inner-workings of the political system for Leila. For those who don't have that opportunity, do you have any advice for helping a child gain exposure to the political system?
Celeste: No matter who you are, how old you are, or where you live, there are opportunities to get involved in the political process. This can be as simple as picking an issue that interests your family, then watching how that issue is discussed and resolved through the legislature, town council, county government, etc. You can track legislation or local issues of interest through the internet, newspapers, television, special focus newsletters, town meetings, and other resources.
If you want to take this a step further, volunteer your family to work on behalf of your favorite cause at the grass roots level. Some families may choose to work for a particular party or candidate, while others may be more interested in working on behalf of a particular issue (like building a playground, saving animals, etc.). Volunteering as a family builds skills, deepens understanding of the issues, and fosters family togetherness. It also can introduce your family to new people and additional resources and opportunities.
Any family can make lawmaking come to life for their children through fun, interactive activities and resources. The Organization of Virginia Homeschoolers has a webpage full of books, websites, and opportunities that we have collected to help homeschooling parents and children learn about the legislature. While some of these resources are specific to the Commonwealth of Virginia, comparable resources are probably available for your state as well.
Mary: Leila, what do you plan to do next?
Leila: This past summer I became a certified producer at my local public access TV station, and I have plans to create a show for teens about political and community issues. Next year I'll be working on my Gold Award for Girl Scouts, and I'm thinking about doing a project to encourage young people to vote. Oh, by the way, a few more years down the road, if you see my name on a ballot somewhere, I'd appreciate the vote!
Learning More about Lawmaking
The Organization of Virginia Homeschoolers maintains a website of interesting books, recordings, websites, resources, and opportunities for homeschoolers of all ages who wish to learn more about lawmaking and the legislature.
To access the website, visit www.vahomeschoolers.org To suggest additional resources for the website, e-mail govtaffairs@vahomeschoolers.org
|
