On Friday, April 8, and Saturday, April 9, students from ConVal’s Youth & Government program participated in the youth state government session at the State House in Concord. Youth & Government is a co-curricular opportunity that is offered by the high school; Chris Heider is the club’s advisor.
Sophomore Gabby Ramsden was elected Chief Justice of the NH Supreme Court. Other ConVal students that took on leadership positions were Wyatt Beaulieu, Eva McCullough, Hayden Kaltsas, and Laramie Wilson. It was a great session with many of the students’ bills making it to the full House and Senate for debate.
Youth & Government is a national program of the YMCA that involves thousands of teens nationwide in state-organized, model-government programs. Teens from across every state meet in their local Youth in Government groups throughout the year to discuss and debate issues that affect citizens of their state and to propose legislation. The program culminates with teens serving as delegates at their state conference, debating bills on the floor of the legislature.
The state conference takes place in April and is held at the state capitol of Concord. Here, students have an opportunity to experience state government by electing their own youth officials. Elected officials include the governor, the House Speaker, senate president and chief justice of the supreme court. Other delegates participate as members of the House and Senate, Executive Council, Supreme Court, Lobbyists or Press Corp.
Students are responsible for writing their own legislation prior to arriving in Concord. This legislation is compiled into a billbook from which the work of the House and Senate committees is derived.
