The Wendell H. Ford Government Education Center has relocated to the new E.M. Ford building at 600 Frederica St. The space was donated to the center, but the Wendell H. Ford. Government Education Center is responsible for funding the completion for their Statesmanship Academy students and administrative area.
The education center left the Owensboro Museum of Science and History a couple of years ago because they needed a space that could accommodate a larger, more open space seating area and also because the future of the program required them to move to a 501 (C)(3) status to be eligible for grants as a nonprofit organization.
Co-Executive Director Diane Ford said all Wendell H. Ford items on display at OMSH are on loan from the family and will remain in that location, but the center is grateful to have this new, donated space and in the future, they hope to allow other nonprofits to use the space if needed.
Ford, along with Bruce Kunze are taking the helm of the education center programs and have made the necessary changes to their schedules to be co-directors.
“Bruce is so well-versed in all levels of government, and I am who works more with teaching the principles of civility, cooperation, and compromise and how to integrate them into the student’s daily lives,” Ford said.
Both agree that the objective of the center is to provide a program to high school-aged students where students learn the core principles to discuss issues in their daily lives.
“We want them to recognize the importance of differing opinions and be able to discuss the differences respectfully,” Ford said.
One of the topics for this year includes discerning fact from fiction, specifically in the news, and finding news sources that are credible and reliable.
“We have lost trust [in the media], but we have to find the credible,” Kunze said. “We want students to be able to question whatever source [they have found] to make informed decisions.”
Ford said that it is empowering when the students and leaders talk about compromise because, through the program, they realize they are not being asked to compromise their beliefs and reality, but they are being asked to share their ideas and solutions.
“Otherwise we can’t move forward and make progress for what the community and nation face,” Ford said.
Currently, Ford and Kunze are reviewing the 170 applicants for this year’s Statesmanship Academy, the free, non-partisan program offered at no cost to students. Students must reapply for the 50 spots at each grade level yearly and new juniors and seniors are not accepted unless they have relocated to Owensboro. The reason for this is because each year builds on the previous year’s topics.
For example, one of this year’s topics for the sophomore Statesman Academy, which focuses on local issues, will be the annexation that is in the local headlines. The topic will also branch into city and county government and planning and zoning, among others.
Senior statesmen will be working on an innovative bill simulation where students will walk through the process of crafting a bill for the federal government. The idea for this was presented to the directors by an academy graduate, Anna Caroline Brake, who is interning with the program and sharing experiences from Georgetown University where she attends and is majoring in political science. She will also return a couple of times in the fall to help with the simulation.
Ford said they are excited to offer caucus days, one in the fall and one in the spring, which will be open to the community as well. They hope to bring in bi-partisan speakers for legislation and to host these events where people can see the left side and the right side come together.
“We are far more alike — there is common ground there if we look for it,” Ford said.
Kunze said one of their topic goals is to keep it current. Since the academy is non-partisan, it is not simply looking at whose ideas are good or bad, but rather looking at the issue.
“A majority of the students do get it,” Kunze said. “Our goal is to get them to learn from us and carry it forward.”
Ford said that she believes that everyone can make a difference in their communities by serving on local boards.
The Wendell Ford Center relies on grants, donations, friends and colleagues “who believe in what they are doing” to fund the experiences.
“I am most proud of taking students to D.C. to meet with our elected officials and Wendell’s Chief of Staff who brings in a Republican and Democrat speaker to discuss both sides of an issue,” Ford said.
Kunze said that students often say their experiences in the academy are unlike what they get to do in school in terms of the discussions and learning how to have respectful discussions.
Last year the center began a middle school pilot program with the city schools. They hope to expand it to the other middle schools next year, but they want to make sure it is what they want it to be.
In August, freshmen will have the opportunity to apply for the Statesman Academy. To learn more visit their website.
“The only way to heal division is to find a middle ground,” Ford said. “It’s the only way we get there.”
