Young political minds

by Susan Gibbs
Published: May 1, 2008

BY SUSAN GIBBS
Record Reporter

Two William Monroe High School Students will be representing Greene at the 5th District and State Democratic Conventions this year.
Sarah Horning and Luke Taylor, both seniors in Teacher Holly Newman’s government class, will be in Lovingston May 17 for the 5th District Convention and at the Hampton Roads Convention Center in Hampton on June 14 for the State Convention.
“At those conventions, Sarah and Luke will vote on the election of Virginia’s National Delegates to the Democratic National Convention in Denver this August,” says former Greene County Democratic Party Chair Roy Dye.
Both Horning and Taylor, who are 18 and voted in the February 12 primary, are pledged to support Senator Barack Obama.
Based on the February primary results, “There are 2,000 State Delegates,” explains Dye.  “Greene was allocated three delegates: two for Obama and one for Clinton.”
Horning and Taylor were the only candidates in Greene to file for election prior to the April 19 County Democratic Caucus, says Dye. 
Horning, who will be attending Virginia Commonwealth University in the fall, where she will be studying “psychiatry, maybe politics” says she has always been interested in politics and is “excited about the conventions.
“This is a great opportunity to get more involved with politics. And this is a great way for the youth, our generation, to play an active part in the presidential selection process,” Horning adds.
Taylor, who will be attending American University, where he plans to major in “political science or English” says he is looking at his attendance at the convention “as an adventure.”
Both Horning and Taylor credit Newman with developing the level of interest they have in the political process.
“She presented (the political process) in a way we that we could identify with,” says Horning.
And: “She’s a great teacher,” says Taylor. “She presented us with opportunities that got me from interested to involved.”
Though Newman talks more about her students than she does about herself, she admitted that Shifflett has told her that “voter registration has gone way up since I’ve been here.”
Greene County Registrar Sandra Shifflett says that’s because WMHS government teachers have been taking field trips to her office.
“The students experience a hands-on demonstration of the voting machines, (learn about the) voting precincts, and coming elections,” Shiffflett explains.
Taylor got so involved that he went to Richmond to lobby for gifted students, even though he knows the state is currently suffering what he describes as a “budget crunch.”
“I feel, and I have peers who feel, that gifted education is just as important as regular education. With the budget crunch, we don’t want gifted and talented education to be forgotten,” Taylor explains.
Taylor, who is gifted in both academia and art, also canvassed for Obama in Charlottesville some days before the primary in February. He chose Charlottesville to go knocking on doors, he says, because “the population is denser there and Obama has a bigger constituency.”
Dye says Newman is worthy of many thanks for encouraging her students - whether they be Democrats or Republicans—to participate in the presidential nominating process.
“They are joining the millions of other new voters across the nation who are eager to become involved and make a difference in this crucial presidential election.”
But Newman shines the light back on her students.
Both (Horning and Taylor) “are (College Board) Advanced Placement students,” she says. “They are taking the national test Monday.
From those tests, they - and others who take them—will be given the opportunity to earn credit or advanced standing at most of the nation’s colleges and universities.