The PILOT Congress program trains high school students to imagine the next generation of technology policy and law.

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1. Learn: The first part of the program teaches students about United States civics, the legislative process, and the Constitution.

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2. Research: In the second part of the program, students learn how to think like a Congressional staffer and how to research current technology policy debates on Congress' radar. Students then work in teams to develop new policy approaches and draft a preliminary model statute.

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3. Negotiate:  In the third part of the program, student teams must reach consensus across proposals to arrive at a single, negotiated approach and draft a final model statute.

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4. Pitch: The program concludes with students presenting their policy approach and draft statute in a "pitch" to a Member of Congress or a Congressional staffer, who poses questions and offers feedback on their work. 

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Educators:

 

To launch a PILOT Congress program at your school, please contact Prof. Andrea Matwyshyn at andreamm [at] psu.edu. 

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PILOT Congress can be used as an expansion module to programs such as the Penn State Street Law program in collaboration with a law school, as a standalone exercise in a social studies/ government class or as an after school activity.