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By Qandeel Suleman

In the John H. Reagan Building, the Hyde Senate reviewed and discussed bills written by delegates over various topics, from adding a personal finance class to creating prerequisites to obtain a license for firearms. 

Each bill author was asked questions for a short time period in order to clarify their bill and discuss the purpose of it with their fellow delegates. Afterward, amendments are put forth to improve the original bill and finally, the delegates make a speech of whether they support or oppose the bill. In the end, the bill is voted for due passage, and when it is by the agreeance of “aye’s” it will be sent to the House for further voting.

The delegates in the Hyde Senate were very serious in terms of how they handled situations and how they were towards the process of presenting and passing bills. It was very obvious how intrigued the delegates were by the questions, bills, and amendments, along with how important it was to follow the rules and provide insightful thoughts. Many of the delegates were able to voice their opinions especially on controversial topics of gun violence.

Throughout the process, especially the period of questions, the passion of legislation along with creating and revising bills was vividly present in the way the delegates quickly stood up to ask a question. Moreover, in the amendment and pro/con periods, the delegates had clearly put a lot of time, effort, and thought into saying what they believe is right.

During the ten-minute recess, conversation with some of the delegates of the Hyde Senate gave insight into their experiences. It was many of their first time at state, while some had just switched to legislative this year.

Some delegates, such as Summi Man, believed legislative “would be fun and relevant to current society.”

As a part of the Hyde Senate, or any section of the legislation, each delegate is able to gain new skills and improve on those they already have. From communication skills to being creative and coming up with things on the spot.

By: Noor Mohamed

Hundreds of students from different regions annually attend the Texas Youth and Government Conference (TXYG) in hopes of meeting new people, being challenged and diving deep in self-development.

Adaelaide Zink (Sophomore), Isabell Bannerot (Sophomore), Chris Fryamn (Freshman), and Matthew Lynn (Freshman) all in Appellate Court from Christain Life Preparatory shared their insight from the past couple of year they’ve been involved at TXYG.

There are a couple aspects to developing student leaders. First, they need to play with concrete ideas and topics to better develop the world around them. Second, they need to practice the skills necessary to conduct formal and scholarly dialogue with each other. Lastly, you set them loose and let them run the world.

However, every journey must start somewhere and for most it’s in their respective sections at TXYG.

For Fryamn, his growth starts out in the courtroom of his Appellate trial. “It helps you think on your feet. You get to think of what you want to say, consider what you’ve written and invest new things.”

“I think development in speech which is an important life skill to be able to convey yourself eloquently to others,” said Lynn when sharing how he’s seen his own transformation on the first day of his second conference.

Alongside coming from varying regions, the hundreds of students at the annual conference all come bearing extremely different personalities.

Zink said “When I started TXYG in 7th grade, I hated public speaking, but now I really enjoy it. This program has really taught me how to think logically and be comfortable in large groups.”

Bannerot shared she expresses herself better through works and commented how “YG for me, especially Appellate Court, has helped me with being able to write concisely and powerfully to express my ideas in a way that makes sense to myself and everyone else.”

Interestingly enough, not everyone walks away from the annual conference changed from proposal debates and ready to be politicians. For others, the real change happens when overcoming personal challenges.

“As an introvert YG has been really helpful in boosting my confidence. Debating in YG is a lot different than talking to regular people, but it has helped my speaking skills in my everyday conversations— something that most people overlook, “ said Bannerot.

Although the conference may be short, the days are definitely long, but the Christian Life Preparatory students shared their most memorable and pivotal moments through the program.

Reliving the thrill of it all, Fryamn said “When someone gets up there round one of Appellate Court, you’re like ‘Oh my God, I’m in it!’ You’re thrown head first in the questioning, but in the end it helps you be a better quick thinker and you don’t notice at first how many new skills you start to develop.”

A common theme amongst most sections is the sense of leadership through self-advocacy as student defend their own ideas as well as through the art of duality as they’re challenged to view all aspects from different perspectives.

At the end of the week, as these students pack their bags to go home they’re packing in the new sense of leadership they’ve unfolded over the past few days.

By immersing students in portraying real-life roles, giving them positions of power and fine-tuning their skills, once they leave the walls of the Texas Youth and Government conference the real world is now their playing ground to enact any change they seem fit.

By Auyana Aird

Over 50 delegates on the House floor, get the opportunity to get real work experience on what the State of Texas Government would be like.

In real life, the process is somewhat different. The House Chambers in legislature meet in a regular legislative session in Austin every two years. By statute, the legislature convenes in a regular session on the second Tuesday in January of every odd-numbered year. These sessions are limited to 140-day duration. The constitution also allows the governor to call additional special sessions as necessary. During a called session, which cannot exceed 30 days, the legislature may consider legislation only on matters specified in proclamations.

“I like that I get to hear many different opinions, and that we all could speak about one thing but it does take forever to get it done.” Delegate Charis Maxwell from Hood County YMCA said

In the environment at the Youth Government, the House chambers has a process that is unique. The lobbyists select a number of bills they want on the docket, then the speaker then picks the ones he or she wants to be presented to the floor. The bill authors will then present, then the assorted members of the house will come and debate the bills put forth.

The Speaker of the House in both Youth government and State government is prominently the same. The speaker is the presiding officer of the House of Representatives. The Texas Constitution requires the House of Representatives, each time a new legislature convenes, to choose one of its own members to serve as speaker.

As presiding officer, the speaker maintains order during floor debate, recognizes legislators who wish to speak, and rules on procedural matters. The constitution also requires the speaker to sign all bills and joint resolutions passed by the legislature. As a member of the House of Representatives, the speaker may vote on all questions before the house.

“The house floor is very competitive, when I walk on the house floor I know I’m going to get competition, it is straight to the point and I love all the intelligent minds in the house.” Delegate Mouctar Diallo from Oak Cliff YMCA said.

Both State of Texas youth and government House Chambers and the Official Texas Youth and Government is not much different than you think.

By: Christina van Waasbergen

The Farabee Senate passed a bill on Friday prohibiting the removal of Civil War Monuments (including those honoring the Confederacy) from public land.

Josie Woodward, a senior from Liberty High School who spoke against the bill, believes that Confederate monuments should be removed because they are racist. “I think that statues and monuments should be things to honor things that had positive impacts and I think that it is doing nothing but giving racism and bigotry a platform that it shouldn’t have,” Woodward said in an interview.

David Poe, a senior from Liberty High School, spoke in favor of the bill. Poe said in an interview that he believes that those who wish to remove Confederate monuments are the intolerant ones. “These statues have been here a long time and it’s only because the issue of race has gotten a lot of attention in the last few decades and tensions are really heating up between different groups, some of which want to remove the statues, and I feel like these groups are simply impulsively removing these statues and not giving the other groups a chance to respond  and just hastily getting rid of everything that they see unfit, which is the very definition of intolerance,” Poe said.

The bill will now be sent to the governor for approval.

By Simone Lee

“A lot of people don’t know about this issue; they disregard it,” said Sanjana Dandu, a freshman from the legislative branch.

Her bill proposed for pregnant women to be criminally charged for knowingly using alcohol while pregnant.

“They believe actually leaving marks on a child is, well the child doesn’t necessarily have to be born yet for it to be endangered,” Dandu said.

She said that both abuse on a child when the mother is not pregnant and when that mother is, is “basically the same thing.” She added that either way the mother is still putting that child’s life in danger.

She stated that she has actually seen movies and TV shows that show the romanticization of using alcohol while being pregnant. When asked why she chose to do a bill proposal about such a controversial topic and she stated that she knew the topic was “extremely debatable” and  she “wanted to be noticed and for a freshman, make her voice more pronounced.”

“As soon as I got up to the stand I started shaking a lot, I was nervous,” Dandu said.  “I had done all this research, and I knew so much about the topic so I wasn’t completely horrified. I believe anyone can [argue a bill] it if they put the effort into the research.”

However, she did have some complaints about the legislative branch.

“I really wish we had more time for our closing remarks, it’s where you can review all your points and can defend yourself to the best of your ability,” Dandu said.

By Ava Motes

Kirby Cabler, a junior delegate from Oak Ridge High School, fulfilled two different roles within the State Affairs committee today. She first acted as a proposal author, presenting her “Mental Wellness In Schools” proposition to a chair and panel of delegates. After deliberation had concluded, propelling her proposal to further State Affairs rounds, Cabler switched to the overseeing role of a chairperson.

“A chairperson manages the debate by imposing and uphold the parliamentary procedure within a state affairs forum,” said Youth and Government (YG) officer Dio Marvellous Nsofor.

While the State Affairs Forum is most frequently associated with the work of proposal authors in addressing current issues, the role of “chairs” is vital to regulating the discussion and impact of propositions.

“They make sure that the debate is equal and fair, and that everyone gets an equal opportunity to share their own opinions,” said Nsofor, “It’s all about leadership–they have to be willing to courageously lead.”

Cabler has committed herself to embody a leader among other members of the State Affairs Forum.

“I really enjoy seeing other competitors grow and guiding them towards that growth in parliamentary procedure,” she said.

Although Cabler is impassioned about the issues she has the opportunity to discuss a proposal author, she is partial to her duties as a chairperson.

“I have been competing in debate-like settings for so long that I care less about winning than helping others get to where I am in terms of experience,” Cabler said.

Cabler has been a member of her high school debate program for three years, rising in the ranks to serve on an elite debate council. She also held an intern position with a criminal attorney in downtown Houston last summer, giving her to the opportunity to speak with clients and organize plea bargains.

“It was one of the best experiences in my life, I learned so much grew really passionate about the subject matter,” Cabler said.

As a freshman, Cabler’s high school assembled their first Youth and Government team, and though the program suited her interests, only older students were allowed to compete. However, a handful of her fellow debate members attended the YG conference and encouraged her to join in subsequent years. Due to her passion for debate and criminal law, Cabler decided to participate in mock trial as a sophomore.

“I was really excited to do mock trial, but a week before the deadline, we realized that we didn’t have enough people,” Cabler said, “I ended up moving to State Affairs kind of on a whim, but I fell in love with it.”

Cabler worked as a proposal author her first year in Youth and Government, receiving high marks at the district level.

“I proposed an extremely researched proposal about sex ed in Texas, specifically repeat teen pregnancies,” Cabler said.

However, despite her vast extent of preparation, her proposition did not advance. “I was in a room full of like-minded kids from the same district, and they didn’t agree with my ideas,” Cabler said.

This year, State Affairs presented a new system for evaluation that focuses on presentation quality as opposed to the political alignment of your proposition.

“I’m happy that I get to be a chair with this new system, because I care so much more about how much work people are putting in than what they’re saying,” Cabler said.

The new rubric prides proposition authors on their degree of preparation and presentation skills. Ranking is determined by your performance, thus mechanics and accuracy are less important than confidence.

Cabler returned as a proposal author with the intent of advocating for mental wellness training and qualifications among public school staff. Due to her proposition partner inability to attend the state conference, Cabler had to present her ideas alone in front of the panel.

“I wasn’t too worried about it because of this new evaluation system. I’m used to public speaking, and I was really confident in my ability to convey these ideas,” she said.

Her presentation was successful, and she was excited to find that she was advancing further through the State Affairs Forum than she had before.

“Doing my proposal was really fun this year, but I still don’t think anything can top chairing. I’ve begun to realize that I really love these kinds of leadership roles,” Cabler said.

The summers proceeding and following her freshman year, Cabler worked as a counselor for a youth theatre camp.

“That was when I first discovered that I love working with kids and helping them grow in things that I was passionate about,” Cabler said.

She initially worried that she would be overly critical or jealous of the children she was working with, but soon developed an affection for assisting others.

“During the district conference, I was with a lot of first-time delegates and younger competitors. I had to provide them with more of a crutch, but it was cool to know that I was helping everyone get on the same page for state [conference],” she said.

Those who have worked with Cabler have a lot of respect for her oversight and advice, especially in these scenarios.

“Kirby really knows what she’s doing. She is just a natural at everything and I loved working with her,” said Brendon Nguyen, a delegate who took note of precedence and timekeeping alongside Cabler during today’s preliminary rounds.

“I’ve been doing two really different things today, and I loved them both. I am starting to graduate on to a more leader-oriented position… [but] I think there is value in absolutely every role,” Cabler said.

Today, she has proven herself adept at a wide variety of skills from confident debate to informed guidance. As she continues through subsequent rounds, she resolves to facilitate an enjoyable experience among other delegates and advocate for the mental wellbeing of all Texas students.