On May 22, 2018 the Law and Public Safety Academy hosted its annual law fair in the south cafeteria during the first few periods of the day. Freshman students from the Law Academy displayed brightly decorated poster boards containing information on proposed legislative bills on topics they wished to see change in, such as gun control, abortion, adoption, or criminal justice.

Every year, the project is assigned by Law Academy Program Manager Roslyn Powell and at the end of the year, it serves as a way for students to showcase their knowledge on the legislative process they learned throughout the course.

Freshmen Mikayla Williams and Rachel Park presented a bill intended to increase gun safety within the nation by requiring new gun owners to attend a training course before they are allowed to purchase a firearm. Inspired by the current political debate regarding the topic of gun control, the two students felt that the issue needed to be remedied in some way to reduce the number of deaths as the result of gun violence.

“We were in class and we were filling out a survey that asked us about what issues we found interesting. It happened that Mikayla and I both felt strongly about the issue of gun control, so we chose to work together,” Rachel said. “Ultimately, we both believe that people have the right to their guns, but there needs to be a certain level of safety provided for the public.”

Students were dressed in formal attire and many presented their projects in a creative manner with the use of candy or other snacks for the audience members. While the audience consisted of students and teachers, there were officials very familiar with the legislative process who went around and listened to the freshmen express their ideas on changes they would like to see happen. Many Law Academy students who had worked on the project as freshmen came to the fair to  see how the current year’s first year students approached the project.

“I liked seeing all the creative ideas these students had to offer,” sophomore Kirti Ganesan said. “I remember doing my project on extending women’s abortion rights and I talked to a group that had a very similar bill proposal as I did last year, so it was fun to see how they approached the topic differently,” she said.

The fair brought many students out of their comfort zone, requiring them to formally discuss a topic they were passionate about to large audiences. They learned how to identify a problem that the government is not addressing in a way that would bring forth positive change and they learned how to seek a realistic solution to the issues they see facing the world today.