Lawyers e-Journal
Thursday, Jun. 28, 2007
SJC’s Judicial Youth Corps kicks off in Worcester this week
Thanks to a grant of more than $20,000 from the Massachusetts Bar Foundation, the Supreme Judicial Court’s Judicial Youth Corps program returned to Central Massachusetts for orientation this week.
Designed for urban high school students, the Judicial Youth Corps program was established by the Supreme Judicial Court’s Public Information Office in 1991. The program teaches young people about the judicial branch of government and fundamental principles of law. The four-month program consists of two educational components: a seven-week orientation to the court system and a seven-week courthouse internship session in July and August.
When the Judicial Youth Corps program originally began, high school students in Boston, Worcester and Springfield were eligible to participate in legal education training and courthouse summer internships in their respective cities. In recent years, however, the Judicial Youth Corps has been limited to Boston students due to financial constraints. In recent years, the Boston program has been funded by the Boston Private Industry Council.
This year, the SJC and MBA received a Fellows Grant from the MBF to restore the program in Worcester. Jim Rosseel, a teacher and lawyer in Worcester, will teach, coordinate and supervise about 10 public school students who applied and were accepted into the program.
The seven-week orientation program will be abbreviated in Worcester this year, but the summer internships and educational sessions will be on the same schedule as the Boston program.