BAY MINETTE, Ala. High school juniors from throughout the county met at the Baldwin County Courthouse Tuesday, then dispersed to assume the role of elected officials for a day as part of a learning experience in government operations.

Some students manned the gavels at the Baldwin County Commission meeting, while other groups met their counterparts and toured the Sheriff’s Department, Probate, Revenue, Circuit Clerk and District Attorney offices, as well as the city’s municipal offices and state posts.

Student Government Day is sponsored yearly by the Baldwin County American Legion.

Morgan Odom, past Department of Alabama commander and chairman of the program, asked Commissioners for voting machines to be placed in all seven high schools where mock elections were conducted March 25 to choose leaders for the day.