SERVING TEXAS SINCE 1946
The YMCA Youth and Government program was established in 1936 in New York by Clement “Pete” Duran, then a director of the Albany YMCA. Duran coined the motto of the program: “Democracy must be learned by each generation.”
YMCA Texas Youth and Government (YG) is part of a nationwide, youth-led, civic engagement and academic enrichment program for high school and middle school students. YMCA Texas Youth and Government was organized in 1946. The judicial section of Youth and Government began in Texas in 1960. Since then, other program sections have been added including lobbyists, middle school legislature, media, and Model United Nations. Thousands of teens have participated in the program and have grown up to be responsible citizens and future leaders of our nation.
In 2000, the American Bar Association became a supporter of Youth and Government, creating a policy requesting that lawyers become involved in the program and stressing the importance of engaging and educating students about the United States legal process. About this issue, Sandra Day O’Connor and Roy Romer said in 2006:
“Most young people today simply do not have an adequate understanding of how our government and political system work, and they are thus not well prepared to participate as citizens.”
As of 2018, the Youth and Government program operated in 41 states and the District of Columbia, serving 47,000 high school students around the country. View the Youth and Government state program directory here.
YMCA Youth and Government Fact Sheet
Mabie/Kaempf/Theiss Award
JOHN KAEMPF HONOREES AND BIL THEISS HONOREES – These awards recognize former Youth and Government State Directors John Kaempf (’73-’84) a former CEO of the Ft. Worth YMCA and Bill Theiss (’84-’93) (a former CEO of Waxahachie YMCA). Both of these gentlemen retired from full-time service at local YMCA’s to give further outstanding service to Texas Youth and Government. Their servant leadership embodies all that YG teaches and is modeled by recipients of these awards.
SUZANNE MABIE AWARD – This award recognizes Suzanne Mabie, former YMCA Youth and Government State Director in Louisiana and Texas and while State Director for Texas, Ms. Mabie created the YMCA Texas Junior Youth and Government Program. Additionally, Ms. Mabie later worked with YMCA of the USA as a Technical Advisor for Youth Events as well as Youth and Government support. Her dedication, kindness and passion for serving youth and teens have positively impacted program participants, YMCA staff and volunteers throughout the country. In her honor, we present this award to an outstanding YMCA Staff or Volunteer of the YMCA Texas Junior Youth and Government Program who embodies outstanding servant- leadership.
JOHN KAEMPF HONOREES
VOLUNTEER | YEAR |
James D. Cole (Washington D.C.) | 1984 |
Vernon Steward (Wichita Falls) | 1985 |
Johnnie Hyde (Cleburne) | 1986 |
Rex Aymond (Dallas) | 1987 |
Ms. J.L.(Jeree) Barnett (Odessa) | 1988 |
Kathleen Vincent (Dallas) | 1989 |
Forrest Lykins (Ft. Worth) | 1990 |
Mrs. J.M. (Ruth Ann) Hill | 1991 |
Kevin Dinnin (San Antonio) | 1992 |
Dave Lewis (Denton) | 1993 |
Ray Farabee (Austin) | 1994 |
Texalee Kyle (San Angelo) | 1995 |
Sarah Jane Freeman (Palestine) | 1996 |
Sue Montgomery (Garland) | 1997 |
Dr. Ron Rea (Houston) | 1998 |
Carol Cameron (Houston) | 1999 |
Robert Burger (Ft. Worth) | 2002 |
Carla Weathersby (Odessa) | 2003 |
Sue Six (Ft. Worth) | 2004 |
Sue Johnson (Odessa) | 2005 |
Shirley Womack (Dallas), Mary Whitbeck (Ft.Worth) | 2006 |
Chris Connolly (Ft Worth) | 2007 |
Scott Cunningham (Dallas) | 2008 |
Annette Kasparian (Dallas) | 2009 |
Jillanne Johnson (Ft. Worth) | 2010 |
Jan Van Eman (Midland) | 2011 |
Ashley Myrick (Ft. Worth) | 2012 |
Chris Johnson (Ft. Worth) | 2013 |
Dario Ganic (Dallas) & Jennifer Moody | 2014 |
Shara Michalka (Dallas) | 2015 |
Chris Britton (Ft Worth) | 2016 |
Debbie Talley (Ft Worth) | 2017 |
Greg Hooser (Austin) | 2018 |
Tim Sinnott (Austin) | 2019 |
Carolyn Storm-Kettenacker (State) | 2020 |
Suzanne Mabie (State) | 2022 |
Becca Love (Houston) | 2023 |
BILL THEISS HONOREES
YMCA STAFF MEMBER | YEAR |
Robert T. Schriener (Lubbock) | 1991 |
Kathy Hamilton (Dallas) | 1992 |
Bob Flemming (Houston) | 1993 |
Wendy Barber (Dallas) | 1994 |
Loli Gonzales (San Antonio) | 1995 |
Brad Kimura (Ft. Worth) | 1996 |
Curt Hazelbaker (Dallas) | 1997 |
Lisa Olvey (Ft. Worth) | 1998 |
Johnny Mayberry (Dallas) | 1999 |
Shelley Snyder (Ft. Worth) | 2000 |
Pam Atkins (Dallas) | 2003 |
Omar Santos (Austin) | 2004 |
Barbara Trachte (Baytown) | 2005 |
Ligia Gutierrez (Dallas) | 2006 |
Dave Faulk & Ken Harris | 2007 |
Suzanne Mabie (State) | 2010 |
Jenna Hodges (Amarillo) | 2011 |
Terri Eley (Dallas) | 2012 |
Kendra Yanchak (Dallas) | 2013 |
Azim Hussain (Ft. Worth) | 2014 |
Thom Parker (Austin) | 2015 |
Patricia Osborn (Houston) | 2016 |
Andrew Wiggins (Austin) | 2017 |
Jacquelyn Kotar (Ft. Worth) | 2018 |
JaMonica Washington (Dallas) | 2019 |
Holli Winn (Ft. Worth) | 2020 |
Emilie Shiffler (Ft. Worth) & Missy Garcia (State) | 2022 |
Jessica Bruda (Ft. Worth) | 2023 |
SUZANNE MABIE HONOREES
VOLUNTEER/YMCA STAFF | YEAR |
Judith Anderson Bruess | 2017 |
Carolyn Searles | 2019 |
Cameron McVay | 2022 |
Jessie Searles | 2023 |