DISTRICT CONFERENCE

In order to foster a rewarding and challenging program, the District Conference allows students to qualify for the right to participate in the State Conference. District Conferences are one-day, qualifying, regional competitions that students and mentors look forward to as great warm-ups for the much larger State Conferences several months later.

STATE CONFERENCE

Each year, months of hard work and countless man-hours culminate with the Texas Youth and Government State Conferences.  These Conferences host select delegates from all districts in multiple program sections and invite them to showcase their political skills and learn from their peers. By coordinating the efforts of volunteers, staff, and delegates, we hope to make each year’s State Conference better than the last, fostering a unique and healthy competition for all.

Our Middle School (Junior Youth and Government) State Conference takes place the last weekend in January of each year, and our High School  State Conference takes place the first weekend in March.  Attendees can review the YG Pre-State Conference Handbook.

NATIONAL CONFERENCE

The National Judicial Competition (NJC)Conference on National Affairs (CONA), and National Advocacy Days (NAD) bring together Youth and Government participants from around the country.  At NJC, Judicial participants face off in mock trial and appellate competitions.  CONA involves researching an issue of national and/or international concern, organizing the information gained into a creative proposal describing a solution to the issue, and engaging in intensive discussion and debate about proposals with understanding young people from other states.  Through NAD, Texas Youth and Government students visit Washington, D.C., and work with Y staff to advocate on behalf of the Y’s agenda: youth development, healthy living, and social responsibility.  Texas Youth and Government also connects its Youth Governor to Youth Governors across the country during the annual Youth Governors’ Conference.  For more information about these opportunities, visit our National Conferences tab.

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