At a Dane County Board of Supervisors meeting on Sept. 5, 15 students from local high schools were selected to participate in the Dane County Youth Governance Program (YGP).
The program is designed to connect students in 10th through 12th grade with a Dane County committee they will serve with to get involved in local government. For those in county government, the YGP is seen as a vital way to reinvigorate the conversation on local issues.
“As another year of the Youth Governance Program begins, it’s important to put a spotlight on the ambition and the innovative mindsets of high school youth,” District 19 Supervisor Brenda Yang said in a press release. “They bring a refreshing perspective to county government, and we look forward to seeing the contributions they make towards their communities.”
District 5 Supervisor Henry Fries told The Daily Cardinal his experience as a high school student in a similar program in Waupaca was a “transformative experience” and “sparked his passion for local government.” He believes students can make a difference in Dane County through the YGP by “advocat[ing] for their priorities in the 2025 budget.”
Current requests for Dane County’s 2025 budget have projected expenditures of $812.3 million yet total revenues of only $498.2 million. At the same time, Madison, Dane County’s largest city, has a projected budget shortfall of $22 million for 2025.
Fries serves as a member of the Health & Human Needs Committee overseeing the Human Services Department which has the largest budget of any department in the County with $165.2 million requested for the 2025 fiscal year.
As a member of Gen Z, Fries told the Cardinal he believes “our generation brings a unique perspective” when it comes to addressing issues related to climate change, social equity and community resilience.
“By elevating the ideas and interests of youth from across Dane County on the Board, we can ensure that our decision-making is not only responsive to current needs but also future-focused,” Fries said.
Research from the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) shows that 58% of Gen Z adults believe that a handover of political leadership from the older generations to younger ones is needed to solve the country’s problems.
Climate change has already impacted Wisconsin by contributing to flooding in August 2018 that destroyed homes and farmland near the Kickapoo River.
“Gen Z will bear the brunt of these climate issues, so their voice is vitally important in the work of our committee to center climate issues in all of our discussions,” District 6 Supervisor Yogesh Chawla told the Cardinal.
District 11 Supervisor Richelle Andrae, a member of the Public Protection & Judiciary Committee, believes the most rewarding aspect of the program is how it reinforces a future-oriented mindset in supervisors. She said having students involved in government is “a constant reminder to think about how the issues we work on or policy solutions impact young people in our community.”
The selected students represent Dane County high schools from Oregon, Middleton, McFarland, Waunakee, Verona, Edgewood, Monona Grove, Sun Prairie, Vel Phillips Memorial and the Madison Country Day School.
