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Read about the 2007 Fellows, pages about their sponsors are coming soon. |
The John William Ward Public Service Fellowship
is a program that allows those students who have completed their junior
or senior year at Boston Latin School to work for a summer in the office
of an elected or appointed public servant in state government, municipal
government, the judicial system, or even the major press.
Students are selected based on community involvement,
academic ability, application essays, and an interview process.
During the course of the summer, students have
the opportunity to meet as a group with each of the host officials, and
are given a unique view of public service that is shaped by the experiences
and philosophies of those decision-makers whose ideals, inspirations,
party affiliations, and legislative priorities are as diverse as the responsibilities
and duties each official performs each day to make sure that our commonwealth
and city work for its citizens.
The fifteen Fellows do more than simple office
work, and are given the opportunity to make substantive contributions
to the office to which they are contributing. Because of the diverse nature
of the offices, each Fellow gets a unique look at serving the public.
They may be writing letters to constituents in the Governor's Office of
External Relations, or evaluating letters to the editor at The Boston
Globe. They may be helping an Assistant District Attorneys build a case
in the Suffolk County D.A.'s Office, or helping gather the precedent that
helps a judge decide one in the Chambers of a Federal Judge. They may
be observing the interviewing of candidates for public housing at the
Boston Housing Authority, or helping to set up a ribbon-cutting for a
new public housing facility in the Mayor's Office. They may be helping
with the administration of summer school programs with the School Department,
or reviewing the budgets of those programs with a City Councilor. They
may be tracking stock trends in the Office of the State Treasurer, or
fielding calls from victims of stock scams in the Office of the Secretary
of State. They may be helping with research for the crafting of a bill
in the Office of the Senate Counsel, tracking it as it makes its way through
the various committees in the Office of the Speaker of the House, or learning
about the veto process in the Office of the Governor.
The Ward Fellowship provides students with a summer
that opens their eyes to the possibilities - and promise -- that await
them in the world of public service. Many alumni have gone on to work
in public service. From running for local office to staffing the President
of the United States, the Ward Fellowship experience is one that shapes
the lives of its participants in profound ways.
John William Ward once said that what was needed
in Massachusetts was " the confidence that we have the intelligence and
the will to create good government . . . [which would] depend on engaged
citizens to become informed and demand good government." The Ward Fellowship
seeks to give students the chance to become that kind of citizen, and
so much more.