Monthly Archives: January 2017

By: Nettie Comerford

January 26th, 2017 marked the 70th anniversary of the Youth and Government State Competition. Fayruz Benyousef was one of this year’s keynote speakers. Benyousef is a professional fundraiser that works for non profit organizations such as helping schools, art programs, healthcare facilities and the YMCA raise funding necessary for their prosperity.

Benyousef has been close to the YMCA family since she was in high school. “At age 16, I had the opportunity to participate in our Youth and Government in Pennsylvania and starting out as a pager,” Benyousef said. From there, Benyousef worked her way up to running for the Governor’s position.

“At age 16, I had the opportunity to participate in our Youth and Government in Pennsylvania and starting out as a pager,” Benyousef said. From there, Benyousef worked her way up to running for the Governor’s position.

From there, Benyousef worked her way up to running for the Governor’s position.(how did she do this? how long did it take? what were other offices she held?)  As Benyousef was getting ready for the North Carolina competition, (please be more specific about the North Carolina conference for readers that are not familiar with it)  she was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease.

“I had tumors

in

my neck, one in behind my left lung. The one thing that was there for me were my Youth and Government friends,” Benyousef said.

Benyousef later spoke about the impact of the YMCA on the community.

“The YMCA is going to be in every community you may end up living in. They are serving tens of thousands of families and people who can’t afford a YMCA membership and that philanthropy of people giving…that’s what keeps the culture and life of the YMCA,” Benyousef said.

Delegate Julie Apagya-Bonney, has been a part of Youth and Government now for two years but has been a part of the YMCA ever since she was little. “The YMCA to me has always been something, whether or not it was Youth and Government or it was taking swimming lessons, it has always been an organization that has impacted the community and has continued to do that even now,” Bonney said. Bonney’s thoughts remained true after hearing Benyousef speak, “to me [the speech] resonated with the sense that if you’re in Youth and Government you just have to enjoy it and if you don’t, you’re missing out on a lot of opportunity.”

Benyousef encouraged the crowd of delegates to not take what we learn from the competition lightly and soak up as much as we can, to learn about one another, compromise and “give a little to get a little,” Benyousef said.

“The thing that I never took for granted was the power of not only what I learned…but the friendships that I made and the strong bonds that I had with these friends and classmates that still hold true to today,” Benyousef said.

(more…)

By: Willow Dalehite

Every morning across the United States, students stand with their right hands over their hearts to say the Pledge of Allegiance, and those in Texas also state the Texas Pledge. Although every student knows the pledges, some choose to remain seated and/or silent.

During the Opening Ceremony of the 2017 Youth and Government State Competition in Austin, Ezra Morales, a Media YG delegate from the Ann Richards Delegation, did not say the pledges.

“I believe in peaceful resistance and standing up for what I believe in, and I do not currently believe in what the President of the United States believes in. That is one thing that I feel that I really can’t stand up for, because it’s not one state under God, indivisible, and it’s not united we stand, because right now, currently, the country is divided by hate.”

However, the pledge rang loud and clear during the ceremony as other delegates recited the often-said words.

“I say it to show respect for my country and my state.” Jeanne Clark, a Legislative delegate, said. “People deserve to be treated with equal liberty and justice.”

Lydia Derksen, a delegate from Houston, said she says the pledges because “I’m proud to be an American and a Texan.” However, despite saying that the most important part of the pledge to her is “one nation, under God, with liberty and justice for all”, she does not believe that everybody currently has liberty or justice.

Other delegates described the pledges in terms of government and the structure of our country, offering a different perspective.

Although Bret Johnson, another delegate, said the pledges “because it is respectful”, he did not feel that any aspect of the pledges resonated with him. “I feel like the United States pledge is said out of formality and that is okay, but I do not feel the Texas pledge should be said or has a reason to be said (…) We live inside the United States of America which should be a united nation, not one split apart into states that are so egotistical that we should say the pledge to the flag everyday.”

Social and political reasons motivate delegates in their decision whether or not to say the pledge, and many attempt to remain respectful to the country while staying true to their beliefs.

“I stood out of respect because we are at a conference that has to do with government affairs, but usually while I’m at school I sit for the pledge.” stated Bri Branscomb, a Leander delegate who did not say either pledge. “Blind pride and nationalism has really created a problem where you’re willing to overlook the needs of many over the needs of a few, and willing to ignore a lot of social issues that need to be addressed. I don’t pledge my allegiance to a flag, I pledge allegiance to a country and that’s where my priority is going to stand.”

By: Emelie Coday

This year at the 70^th Youth and Government state conference, there were four candidates running for Attorney General. The candidates are Katelin Schellhorn “Shelly”, Jean-Marie Kmetz, Asha Christian, and Jillian Bynum.

Katelin Schellhorn was the first to speak. She hopes to guarantee better preparation before trials and she promised to normalize scores. She promised to revise information to decrease confusion among judicial delegates, and non-judicial alike. She also said she would try to convince the leaders to give the delegates long-sleeved shirts next year.

After Schellhorn, Jean-Marie Kmetz took the podium. Kmetz described her experience in the Youth and Government program as a witness one year, and attorney for the last two years. Like Schellhorn, Kmetz said that she would attempt to simplify matters for delegates. She wants to push for originality, specifically criticizing the constant use of Brookbend, Texas. Finally she sang out that she was bringing jury back.

Asha Christianson was up next. She spoke boldly, encouraging the delegates to remember that they are the future.

“Youth and Government is not a program, but a legacy,” Christianson said.

Christianson wants to eliminate last minute changes that confuse judicial teams, and start using more technology instead of filing through too many papers.

Jillian Bynum was the final candidate, and she honed in on how difficult it was to be able to practice with her team. She said that schedules “always conflict,” and that it was “too hard to set up time with other judicial delegates.”

Bynum wanted to change this conflict, and to make an easier way to also connect with other Youth and Government programs outside of the individual’s own school.

Brooks Mitchell, a delegate from Lake Country, said he would vote for Schellhorn, “because of her plan to normalize scores.”

Another delegate, Camden Hoylu, said that he would vote for Kmetz, “simply because she’s been an attorney for two years and she’s pushing for originality.”

By Briana Taylor

The 70th annual Texas Youth and Government State Conference commenced this evening at the opening session in the Renaissance Hotel in Austin, Tx. Hundreds of student delegates from across the state of Texas occupied the Grand Ballroom of the hotel. In addition,  the gathering included Youth and Government alumni, advisors, and even a judge from the state of Texas, all in attendance to kick off the conference which begins on January 26th and extends into the evening of Saturday, January 28th.

The State of Texas Youth and Government Program is divided into several sections – Legislative, State Affairs, Judicial, and Media. The media team in particular is in charge of coverage of the activities in the entire conference, beginning at the opening session and ending at the closing ceremony. This year is one of immense importance to the group, as this is one of the largest media teams the Texas Youth and Government Association has seen in its extensive history.

At the head of this group of individuals are three dedicated student editors and several section leaders, all of whom have made it their priority to assist in making this 2017 conference one for the record books.It is the job of student editors and section leaders to make sure that the delegates in the Media section are performing their duties, and to revise and edit articles crafted by the delegates of the media team.

One student editor, Gracie Porter of District 4, is currently participating in her fourth year of Youth and Government and is greatly invested in Print Media.

Porter became a student editor because she “wanted to move the program in a positive direction,” she said.

Gracie also enjoys the editing aspect of media. One of her goals for her section this year is to, “further the growth of print media,” seeing as though the section has been very small in recent years.

Delegates from the print media team were more than willing to share their thoughts on this year’s Youth and Government conference.

Kathryn Horton (District 2) says that one of her favorite parts of the Youth and Government program is, “ the people and the positive spreading of inspiration and ideas.”

Others shared their fears for the proceedings of this year’s conference.

As Print Media delegate Caden Ziegler (District 2) was worried about the learning curve for the Youth and Government processes and sticking to deadlines. 

“ I am very afraid of not meeting the deadlines for the assignments I have to complete,” he said.  “In District, we could write about whatever we wanted to, but now I have to write about things that I know nothing about.”

This Texas Youth and Government State conference is one that has already proven to be great in number. Delegates from all over the state of Texas are gearing up to prove their excellence in their field this weekend, and it is the responsibility of the Media section to keep an informative eye on the events that will unfold over the next few days. Stay up to date by following our Twitter (@texasyg), Instagram (@texasyg), and Snapchat (austinymca), and best of luck to all Youth and Government delegates this weekend.

By: Faith Pawley 

Governor Kennedy Montgomery was energetically greeted with roaring cheers in his opening speech, but his message conveyed the changes he made in the program. He spoke frequently of unity; bringing together a  conference of diverse teens from different areas. 

“My message was that Youth & Government gives many of us a platform for us to do amazing things, and I want them to do amazing things,” Montgomery said. “What we choose to do with that power will truly define who we are.” 

Montgomery looks out for his fellow YAG participants and wants them to grow, learn, and feel empowered. He started working in his position as Governor to help students on the first day of the Conference. Montgomery gets to know students, learns about their experience and helps prepare for the conference.  

Montgomery also sees this position as an advancement to his future career. He strives to be a strong politician and hopes his seat as Governor can move him closer to his goal.

“It’s actually really funny,” Montgomery said. “I wanted to be a surgeon before, but Youth and Government actually changed that. I want to be a politician now.”

Montgomery ran for Governor because he wanted to serve his community and wanted to improve the YAG program. 

“I felt extremely humbled, elated and truly moved that I am able to serve the students,” Montgomery said.  

Delegate Emma Keller spoke of Montgomery’s message of unity and wanting to serve the studnets of Youth and Government. Keller said that Montgomery focused on bringing the leadership and delegates together. 

“It (Montgomery’s message) was all about unity – about bringing together all three branches of the Texas Legislature. He wanted to bring them all closer and have them work together,” Delegate Emma Keller said. “It’s was all about unifying the leadership and the delegates and the entire Youth and Government.”

She personally didn’t see any drastic changes to the program, but said that a few subtle changes had been made. In particular, the docket system had changed since Montgomery had been in office. The order of the bills is now chosen by the quality and debate length rather organized in an arbitrary order. 

“That is an efficient way to do the senate docket,” Keller said. “I think it’s really cool.”

She believed that he is making valuable changes to the program. 

By: Kyle Gehman

The 2017 Youth and Government State Conference kicked off today for the 70^th year in a row. Despite all of the differences throughout the past seven decades, the ideas and importance behind YG have stayed the same. To empower young adults to unite in learning and practicing democracy and to learn about their voice in this world through public speaking and explaining their opinions.

“Our keynote speaker today at our VIP event was Evan Smith, the CEO of the Texas Tribune, and he pointed to our youth officers in saying you are charged with leading this society and community and civic engagement because we are not going to be leading it, so who is going to pick up the baton,” state director Angela Castilleja said.

During the Opening Session, speakers all voiced their opinion on how empowering and important the YG program is.

“I think

Good Morning YG Students, Advisors and staff!

We hope you are excited to attend the 70th Texas Youth and Government High School State Conference. On the website we have posted the Full Conference Brochure on the home page. You will also find the Bill Book, SAF Book, and the Pre-conference Handbook on the Resource Portal. Take a peek before you arrive or you can wait to receive your material at conference check-in this Thursday…see you soon!