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Bolton Central School Youth and Government participants had a great conference this year! The inclement weather didn’t stop the group from getting to the capitol, which is a highlight for all delegates.
When students make the decision to become part of the Youth & Government program, they make a commitment to work on the crafting, presentation and ability to argue legislation in a clear and concise fashion. YMCA Youth & Government is a national program that involves thousands of teens nationwide in state-organized, model-government programs. Students have the opportunity to immerse themselves in civic engagement and literally practice democracy. The program culminates with teens serving as delegates at their state conference, debating bills on the floor of this legislature.
Every participant involved in the program has a specific responsibility and it was an exciting event for 1st time attendees as well as seasoned participants. Congratulations to all. Your dedication and hard have truly paid off!
Here are Bolton Central School’s accomplishments:
Addison Kelley won an award for outstanding debater.
Addison was also selected as an alternate to attend the Conference on National Affairs (CONA).
Selected to attend CONA and represent all of New York State Youth and Government students are Ila Hubert, Halley LaBrecque, and Emma Anand!
Emma Anand was also elected as a presiding officer for the 2024/2025 New York State Conference in the role of Speaker of Assembly Freedom.
Tyler Trowbridge was our youth Lt. Governor this past year and did an amazing job presenting his servant leadership project at the conference as well as presiding over 673 students from across the state.
Ila Hubert was Editor-in-Chief in Press for the entire conference this past year. Ila truly shined in this role. She and her team took countless pictures, created videos and interviewed delegates throughout the conference. Her hard work and dedication brought the Press delegation back to life for Youth and Government!
Bolton students presented a total of 8 bills in their designated chambers. All of the bills engaged students in debate and 6 out of the 8 passed.
Bill 47 (Addison Kelley, Declan Dumas, Michael Miller, Jack Pfau, Teddy Phelps) This bill will designate an area outside of school district borders to allow students who live on the edge of two school districts to choose which school they attend.
Bill 44 (Tyler Trowbridge, Sullivan Eager, Ian Daken, Alyas Kennedy) The purpose of this bill is to account for inflation while preserving opportunities for New Yorkers to seek higher education with the Excelsior scholarship.
Bill 80 (Maddy Andersen, Jadynn Egloff, Natalie Figueroa, Andrew Hull, Thea Kennedy) This bill hopes to relieve the backlog in Speech/Language Pathologists in New York State by allowing more speech therapists to practice sooner.
Bill 43 (Danica Staepel, Frederick Moise, Halley LaBrecque, Maille Kelley, Riley Huck) This bill would allow minors to get their learner's permit at fifteen years and six months of age instead of sixteen and to give new drivers nine months to complete the required hours of supervised driving instead of six months, while requiring twenty-five extra hours, to ensure their knowledge of the rules of the road and how to safely operate a motor vehicle.
Bill 112 (Emma Anand, Kayla Navitsky, Layna Ward) This bill would advocate for animal welfare and make sure the use of electric shock collars if purely out of necessity to the animal and others.
Bill 45 (Sarah Anand, Hannah Daken, Riley Matuszak) This bill would create benefits to low-income individuals to let people who need SNAP benefits get the nutrition filled food they need at all farmers’ markets.
Thank you to Youth and Government advisors Mrs. Cark and Mrs. Soper. Also, a big thank you to our additional chaperones, Ms. Carlson and Mr. Hull for all their help.
Photos provided courtesy of the Youth & Government District 3 Conference Press Corps - Bolton CSD Students