The St. Albans School of Public Service is a four-week program for rising high-school seniors interes Students reside in the St.
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SPS lasts four weeks each summer, from the end of June to mid-July. Albans dorms and eat in the school refectory, the old-fashioned name for the building's dining hall. SPS also offers an option for students to be day students. We begin accepting rolling applications for the summer session on December 1. Spots generally fill up by mid-March, so apply early to guarantee spots will be available. If you have any questions, feel free to email our office or the program director, Nicole Chapin Duke.
An SPS tradition, students participated in the congressional bill project—writing, presenting, and ultimately voting on bills of various topics. Some bills passed nearly unanimously in the SPS Senate, while others were nearly a dead tie. Enjoy some photos of their progress.
SPS had an amazing opportunity to visit the White House today, concluding the program on an extraordinarily high note. After a tour of the main building, we had an opportunity to hear from White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients and Counsel to the President Steve Richetti in their West Wing office.
Group photos from the SPS trips to Capitol Hill and the Supreme Court! Today, students heard from Congressman Don Beyer, of Virginia, about nuclear fusion and AI.
Pt. 2! SPSers kicked off the weekend with some lively bowling before SPS’s 21st birthday party on Saturday night (at which Ms. Duke and RA Maya Riddles made sure the Photo Booth was in order). Students started the week on Monday with a visit to the Capitol Building, where current interns and RAs ran into SPS ‘20 graduate and former intern, Sonia Walke, at her job on the hill! Students got to sit on the steps of the Capitol while hearing from Allison Blankenship, SPS ‘11 graduate and current SPS Board Member, about her job as Floor Assistant at the Office of the Democratic Whip. SPSers finished their busy Monday with a visit to the Senate Office Building to hear from Nicole McClain Walton, Counsel at US Senate Committee on the Judiciary, who spoke about her current job on the Senate Judiciary Committee as well as her past as a Former Assistant United States Attorney.
SPSers have been busy in the past week! This is pt. 1 of 2 posts cataloguing what these students have been up to. Beginning with the 4th of July, SPS students participated in a fun (and very competitive) SPS Olympics which included activities from listing former vice presidents to putting marshmallows in a cup on top of their heads. SPS also recently took a trip to DC Central Kitchen and volunteered by making lunches to serve DC youth. Students met with SPS mentors while completing their congressional bill projects, complete with senator and congressmen sponsorship and all. Finally, students heard from Irish Ambassador to the US, Geraldine Byrne Nason (last slide), after having heard from James Roscoe, the Deputy Head of Mission at the British Embassy, earlier in the day (not pictured).
Week one ended with a bang! On Thursday, students heard another wonderful speaker before touring Georgetown University. On Friday, they enjoyed an exclusive visit to the Supreme Court which was especially poignant in light of their recent mock trials and real time SCOTUS decisions.
This afternoon, students simulated a Supreme Court hearing in their roles as either a Justice or a lawyer. A perennial favorite, the SPS Mock Supreme Court gives students a chance to not only understand but experience the judicial branch of our federal government and the scope of its influence.
SPS ‘23 is off to a phenomenal start! With an ice cream social on the roof to kick off the program and a surprise trip to an escape room, students have been enjoying the first few days of another terrific summer.
Welcome to our first student arrival of SPS 2023! 🌟
Only 7️⃣5️⃣ more days until we welcome another fantastic group of students to Washington, DC for SPS ‘23! 🎆
We LOVE our SPS Alums! 💓
What's something you loved about your time at SPS? Comment below! 👇
Only 142 more days until SPS 2023!
Another weekend of adventures! SPS students went to an outdoor movie in Rockville and dinner at the District Wharf.
Shots from a busy Fourth of July weekend at SPS! SPS students attended a Washington Nationals game with fireworks afterwards, the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, Eastern Market, a Maryland Country Carnival, Old Town Alexandria, the Iwo Jim’s Memorial, and Mount Vernon. Students Katya B. and Mary Emma W. were even chosen to participate in a wreath ceremony at Washington’s grace at Mount Vernon!
Last week, former Senator Chris Dodd took SPS students on a behind-the-scenes tour of the Capitol!
This week, students were assigned a role of lawyer or Justice in the SPS Mock Supreme Court. The lawyers represented students and School Districts in a First Amendment Case building on the unanswered questions from the Supreme Court’s 2021 Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L. decision.
On Tuesday, SPS students had the amazing opportunity to visit Business Roundtable with CEO Josh Bolten (STA ‘72). Dressed in business professional for the first time this session, students sat in the very seats that the organization’s Fortune 500 CEOs sit in at their quarterly meetings. SPS students Jack K. and Phillip S. interviewed Mr. Bolten and fielded questions from the group. He then took them up to the roof for a great view!
Enjoy some shots from the first social activities of the summer: ice cream party, an escape room, and walking around Georgetown!
Happy first day of SPS 2022!! We are bringing back a long-standing tradition of crowning the first students to arrive. This year's winners are Jaila K. and Ray W.
In-person SPS is BACK in just 4 days!! Interns David D. (SPS '20), Theo S. (SPS '21), and Sonia W. (SPS '21) are getting binders ready for this year's students!
An SPS 2020 meetup in Chicago this fall! Thanks to Simrun S., Aidan M., and Maya G. for sharing the picture.
Keep the pictures coming! It was great to get a recent picture from Kareen G., Arya B., and William B., especially since SPS 2021 was entirely virtual.
Camilla D., Ali T., and Salma K. of SPS 2015 reunited recently. SPS forever!
The second in-person meetup of SPS 2021! Ms. Duke and Miranda S. met up outside this summer after the program. SPS alums, if you meet up in person please send us pictures so we can feature them!
The first in-person meeting of SPS 2021! We hope there are many more to come...
For our final Mentor Spotlight, we’ll highlight mentor Olivia White (SPS ’20). Olivia is from Indianapolis, Indiana and graduated from Park Tudor School this past spring. There, she was president of the Young Democrats club, a founding member of her local chapter of Students Demand Action, class Vice President, and a model UN participant. She studied abroad for a semester in Brest, France, and also was a three-sport varsity athlete in lacrosse, cross country, and track. Outside of school, she loves hanging out with friends, going on runs, exploring her city, and finding new music. Next year, she’ll continue her studies at the Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies at Indiana University, where she’ll major in International Studies and minor in either French or Business.
Today’s Mentor Spotlight is on Kaitlin Price (SPS ’20). Kaitlin is from Louisville, Kentucky and just graduated from the historic Louisville Central High School. There, she was the founder of the M.E.M.E. (Mental Emotional Mindful Encouragement) program, which helped students learn about and cope with mental health. She currently works for the Legal Aid Society and PeaceCasters, and she owns a cosmetic company called KissedByKai. She enjoys learning about all things beauty, and she is studying to become a lash technician in the state of Kentucky. Next year she’ll attend the University of Louisville, where she’ll major in Criminal Justice with a minor in Business.
Today we’ll highlight mentor Zach Leiter (SPS ’20). Zach just graduated from St. Albans School, where he was President of the Government Club and the Model UN team, Opinions Editor for the school newspaper, and captain of the short distance track team. In his free time, Zach draws, cooks, listens to 60s–70s rock, reads about politics and current events, and plays competitive Magic: the Gathering and casual chess and bridge. Next year, he’ll attend the University of Chicago, where he plans to study Public Policy and will continue to write a book on the history of American offshore fisheries policy and the U.S. seafood industry, fields he’s researched and explored for the past three years. His favorite SPS memories are of the friends he made and the discussions and collaborations in which he participated.
Former 2020 presidential candidate and mayor of South Bend, Indiana and current U.S. Secretary of Transportation, Pete Buttigieg, is speaking to this year’s SPS students on Friday! We remember fondly when two small groups of SPS 2019 students got to meet him at campaign events.
SPS students really got into character as reporters from various news outlets at today’s Congressional Bill Project Press Conference Session. Shown here are William B. of BBC News who spoke in a British accent, and Kendall C. of Fox News who spoke in a thick Texas accent and donned a cowboy hat. Students drafted bills in small groups on topics such as gun control, immigration, and education. They wrote press releases, then yesterday and today the students held a press conference while the other half took on roles as reporters from various news outlets. The project wraps up on the final day of the session with a final Congressional debate, where groups bring their bills to the SPS Senate floor for debate and voting.
Today’s Mentor Spotlight is on Nina Hazra (SPS ’16). Nina just graduated from Cornell University with a degree in Chemistry and minors in Mathematics, Spanish, and Law and Society. She starts a new role as SPS Program Coordinator this coming year while she applies to medical school. At Cornell, she was active on campus as the Vice President of the Cornell Democrats, a mentor for Ithaca-area youth, a peer advisor in the Chemistry department, and the Diversity Inclusion Chair and Alumni Relations Chair for the pre-medical fraternity Phi Delta Epsilon. Before Cornell, she graduated from Winston Churchill High School in Potomac, Maryland, where she was a three-sport varsity athlete in basketball, lacrosse, and cross country. In her free time, she enjoys running, doing yoga, watching Gilmore Girls, and listening to Taylor Swift.
Today we concluded our new alumni lunch series, where SPS students could opt in to join informal chats with six recent SPS alumni to hear about internships and jobs in various public service sectors. These SPS alums have experience working as an intern on Capitol Hill, as a researcher on education policy, as a legal intern for the Department of Justice, as a policy expert for a campaign for the Mayor of London, as a field organizer, and as a teacher in the Department of Juvenile Justice, among many other things. We give our heartfelt thanks to each of these alums for sharing their wisdom with this year’s students. SPS forever!
Today we’ll highlight mentor Salmah Elmasry (SPS ’20). Salmah just graduated from Mounds Park Academy in St. Paul, Minnesota, where she was the President of the Social Consciousness Club, captain of the speech and debate teams, and a guitarist in the jazz ensemble. Next year, she’ll study International Politics and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Georgetown University, and she hopes to pursue a foreign service career to codify women, peace, and security agenda in U.S. foreign policy. Salmah enjoys archival research, making and selling earrings, and is a strong advocate for eliminating the filibuster. Her favorite SPS memories are hearing from speakers and passing her group’s immigration bill with a 66% margin.
Today’s Mentor Spotlight is on David Donoghue (SPS ’20). David just graduated from St. Albans School, where he was the President of the Chorale and an a ca****la group, as well as the editor-in-chief of the online school newspaper. Next year, he’ll attend Washington University in St. Louis. David loves playing Spikeball and watching the Washington Nationals and his favorite SPS memories are the interesting Q&As with speakers.
This year we brought back the alumni mentorship program that began last year, with seven recent SPS alums serving as mentors. Each SPS student is assigned a mentor who’s their resource for all things SPS. We’ll highlight each of the seven mentors in a Mentor Spotlight in the coming days, with Henry D’Amico (SPS ’19) up first.
Henry graduated from Polytechnic High School in Pasadena, CA, where he played football and basketball and participated in debate and musicals. He just finished his first year at Davidson College in North Carolina, where he plans to major in History and is active in Greek life. Henry’s favorite SPS memories are hearing the various speakers, creating a bill proposal for the Congressional Bill Project, and meeting friends who he still keeps in touch with today.
Believe it or not, we’re officially halfway through SPS 2021! Students began the session by taking on roles as lawyers and justices in a mock Supreme Court case, using a recently-decided case on social media and student free speech as precedent. They’ve heard from ten speakers, attended a virtual White House event on The Equality Act, and discussed case studies on gay marriage rulings and New Jersey’s ban the box law. Our alumni mentorship program is back in full swing, with each student assigned to an SPS alum to be their mentor on all things SPS. Look out for a spotlight on each of our alumni mentors in the coming weeks!
Happy to see the Tax Reform group is still going strong on Zoom! 3 weeks out from the Congressional Debate...
Last day of SPS 2020! Wrapping up the program with our traditional Congressional debate followed by our closing ceremony. Students are in the process of writing their thank you notes to our speakers and they are a joy to read. It definitely feels like a window into the next generation of leaders.
Right now, students are hearing from former Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg. Here is a screenshot from his opening remarks. Mr. Buttigieg says he is eager to hear from the students so Q&A to begin shortly.
This afternoon, students had the opportunity to hear from Fiona Hill, the former deputy assistant to the president and senior director for European and Russian affairs on the National Security Council from 2017 to 2019 who testified before Congress during the 2019 impeachment proceedings of President Donald J. Trump (a recording of her opening statement is available below).
From 2006 to 2009, she served as national intelligence officer for Russia and Eurasia at The National Intelligence Council. Ms. Hill is a senior fellow in the Center on the United States and Europe in the Foreign Policy program at the Brookings Institution.
https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4832408/fiona-hill-opening-statement
In her opening statement before the House Intelligence Committee impeachment hearing, Fiona Hill, the former senior director for Europe and Russia on the National Security Council, speaks first about her personal biography growing up poor in northeast England, earning a scholarship in the U.S., and....
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