VALPARAISO | What's the difference between hate speech, free speech, fighting words, symbolic speech and other forms of expression -- and which are protected under the First Amendment?
Those are questions a group of 15 teens wrestled with Thursday during a "street law" class at Valparaiso University School of Law. The class is part of a new eight-week program -- the Summer Nexus Leadership Program -- designed to inspire talented young people and encourage them to become leaders in their community.
The street law course is designed to help the students deal with real-world legal issues, said course coordinator Elizabeth Cash, a third-year VU law student. It covers search and seizure, consumer protection, contracts, leases, employment and other areas of the law. VU law students teach the course in fulfillment of the school's pro bono work requirement.
The teens will prepare oral arguments and take part in a moot court case at the end of the course to improve research and speaking skills, Cash said.
In addition to the street law course, the Nexus program presents the teens with classes in money smarts, work ethic and faith formation.
Led by Derek Perkins, community pastor for Valparaiso First United Methodist Church, the Nexus program also provides the teens with daily "internships" with mentors from the Chamber of Commerce, the city Police Department and other professional offices.
The teens watch a weekly history-themed film and during the program's last week will visit national monuments and museums in Washington, D.C., as well as Gettysburg National Military Park.
Nicole Aguilar, 13, a student at Benjamin Franklin Middle School, gave the program a thumbs up.
"It's good. It's fun. I like it," she said.
Aguilar is interning in the mornings with an orthodontist, to learn more about the field she wants to go into.
Marcus Allen, a sophomore at Valparaiso High School, is interning with local attorney Brian Bennett. Allen said he does everything from filing papers to shadowing Bennett in his work.
"It is really cool just to see how everything works," said Allen, 15, who plans to study law. "It's awesome."
