We have finally come to the age when our oldest could attend the four-day program from TeenPact. I thought we would never get here, but here it is. Ages 8-12 only have one day, on a Friday, and both our children participated in this One Day TeenPact several years in a row. Ages 13-18 have four days (Monday-Thursday) and then a fifth day (Friday) called Political Communication Workshop.
At TeenPact, students learn how a bill become law, how the government works, what politicians do, what lobbyists do. They also read the Constitution and learn about the political process. Call it civics and government, if you will. They visit the state Capitol and interact with the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, the Speaker of the House, lobbyists, and whoever is available to see them. Some visits are planned and others are completely ad hoc.
Last year, due to you know what, we did not attend (2021). Back in 2020, we attended TeenPact One Day in January, before the world changed. OK, just in case you are reading this in the year 2052, it was something called COVID-19 that kept us from attending TeenPact in 2021. We simply did not want to be bothered with all the restrictions around downtown Nashville due to this global pandemic.
Now, in 2022, the state coordinator asked me to be a cabin mom and I could not refuse. Besides, I wanted to see the camp where they stayed (Deer Run), just outside of Nashville. As a homeschool mom, I am very interested in my children’s every moment.
I needed to have memories of my son walking into a cafeteria, eating with other teenagers, riding on a shuttle bus, attending evening programs etc. From previous years, I knew the political workshop would be interesting and had already seen the downtown library where it all takes place. But I had never been to Deer Run.
All in all, it was a wonderful week. Both our children will definitely attend next year. Our daughter will also be a teenager by next year. Sigh. This was her last year as a one-day student (ages 8-12).
Here’s an older review I wrote about TeenPact a few years ago. I had written several over the years, since 2016, when we attended for the first time.
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