Running and winning

On April 27th, the League of Women Voters Burlington County will host its seventh Running and Winning program. Not sure what Running and Winning is? You can read about our sixth program below, written by the Running and Winning chair, Marcy Rosner.

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On March 8, 2017, we held our sixth Running and Winning program at Shawnee High
School in Medford. Forty-one young women from grades 9-12 participated in the event. We thank our co-sponsors, Alice Paul Institute, AAUW Medford Chapter, and The Links,
Rancocas Valley Chapter, for making it such a successful event.

Volunteer facilitators helped the girls at their table complete their leadership assessment
while they enjoyed a delicious breakfast. We began the program with a representative of each organization sharing their mission statement and opportunities for involvement. This segment allowed the girls to see that there are many ways to give service and help their community. State assemblywoman Pamela Lampitt gave an inspirational talk sharing her experiences and how her passion led to “Lampitt Laws”. Burlington county freeholder Mary Ann O’Brien then spoke about how she got into politics and her experiences as a woman in government. We were honored to have LWVNJ president Nancy Hedinger talk about the history of the league and why it is so important for woman to participate in government. Following, 11 elected female officials from Burlington County including 7 Municipal officials and 4 school board members, moved around to 3 tables each so the girls could interview them in an intimate format for 15 minutes a piece. Their evaluations showed that this was an inspiring segment.

Another event was the campaign exercise. Facilitators discussed the topic, which was
whether or not to increase the minimum wage. In their groups of 3-4 they were asked to
prepare a slate supporting their position. Half of the groups were told to choose the con side and half pro. Roles were chosen: candidate for state senator, her campaign manager, speechwriter, and public relations. The girls found the process very exciting and presented their posters and slate to the entire group after lunch. As always, it was very interesting to see the variety in the girl’s opinions as well as the creativity used to present their slate. Each girl was presented with a certificate at the end of the afternoon. We look forward to hosting this event again next spring at another high school in Burlington County.