Farm Leagues Are Necessary for Every Profession

Every professional baseball and hockey player knows the value of a farm league. There, in places far from the limelight and shouts of the crowds, young players learn the fine points of the game. They learn how to swing and slam in a goal.
Those younger chaps are, perhaps, the truest of sports, since they get little reward, but live in the hope that greatness will some day be theirs. Hopes of those young athletes hinge on a moment in time that will take its toll on older pros.
Their chance for a crack at glory will come only when a bone cracks or a muscle is twisted or torn. Then, they get their day in the sun, a time to grip the stick or bat, tie up the skates, doff the hat, and go into the future.
In a way, that’s what took place yesterday at the Cape May County Administration Building. The annual event, Student Government Day, was the occasion for 18 students from nine local high schools (can you believe there are that many?) to witness county government first hand.
For many, there is a cloud surrounding anything remotely related to government. They know the president and governor, but I doubt the majority would garner an “A” if they had to name county freeholders or, perhaps, their local elected officials.
For the vast majority of teens government, at any level, is as stodgy as Greek literature or dry as ancient history. To them, government has no relevance. They have not experienced what it is and can do or be.
Yesterday was a day of revelation. Unless they are related to a government worker or elected official, the day they entered the portals of county government was an epiphany.
Highlight of the day came late in the afternoon when those teens joined freeholders in conducting the regular Freeholders’ meeting.
Prior to whacking the gavel down to begin a caucus session and then the regular meeting, the students had lunch at the County Special Services School District’s Back Porch Café hosted by Freeholder M. Susan Sheppard, education freeholder.
(She takes that job seriously. On April 6, she represented the board at Atlantic Cape Community College’s annual report presentation in Mays Landing.) It’s probably the best part of her job, being education freeholder. Her predecessor Ralph Bakley Sr. also enjoyed that spark that simply being around youth can inject into a tired spirit.
The teen “county officials” heard from County Freeholder Director Daniel Beyel and other elected officials who explained the role of county government.
They toured the Public Safety Building, saw a demonstration by the County Sheriff’s K-9 Unit and went through the County Clerk’s office.
At 3 p.m. students, they visited with representatives from county departments at an “open house” in the lobby of the County Administration Building.
Each teen official shadowed the person they were representing, freeholders to engineer and treasurer, counsel and more.
Into the mix of Student Government Day, I often wondered by no member of the Fourth Estate was shadowed by a teen reporter. After all, we, members of the Fourth Estate are the ones through whom the public learns much about their elected officials.
Perhaps next year on Student Government Day, a young journalist will be detailed to accompany a reporter from this and any other media that might cover county government.
Thinking of those students and our “farm league,” the Herald news staff recently judged New Jersey college newspapers in feature writing. Those reporters and editors whose work we read and critiqued are most likely the ones who will take our places behind these computers.
Like their athlete peers, they await that twist of fate that will open one of the ever fewer jobs in media. Until one of us retires or otherwise departs the premises, there is no possibility for those youthful reporters.
From the work, we judged in that New Jersey Press Association contest, the reading public would be very well served in the next few decades, if those writers’ works were allowed to be widely published.
From an observer of county and local government, who has witnessed the good, bad and ugly, I truly hope those teens were inspired by the opportunity that could be theirs. If they seize the opportunities in that new world that awaits them, we may live long enough to see a tired world smile at exuberance that only youth has the power to deliver.