Congratulations to FHE Youth in Government delegation on their work at the Michigan Youth in Government Spring Conference last week in Lansing. There were approximately 600 high school students from all over the state in attendance at this conference.
Students in our delegation participated in the Youth Legislature as members of the House and Senate. The delegation spent the time leading up to the conference writing and submitting bills, practicing parliamentary procedure, and preparing to debate their bills. At the conference, they participated in all aspects of the legislative process, starting with working in congressional committees and debating and voting on bills on the chamber floor. They even had the opportunity to work in the actual House and Senate chambers of the Capitol building!
Our delegation got two of their proposed bills passed, and ultimately, one was signed by the student governor. To put that in perspective, of the over 400 bills that were proposed at this conference, only 44 were ultimately signed by the student governor.
FHE student, Belle Rush, worked as a Lobbyist at this conference. As a Lobbyist she worked to influence and advocate on topics of interest to her. Belle accomplished this by advocating for or against specific legislation through testimony in committees and one-on-one efforts with legislators, members of the cabinet, and the Governor. All of the initiatives that Belle worked on were passed. Each lobbyist is assigned to a lobbying firm, and Belle’s firm won the conference award for Best Lobbying Firm. Belle also attended the early conference in February, where she served as Speaker of the House. Belle was elected to this position this past fall.
Also Kasen Wooters, (FHE student) won the conference award for Best Committee Chair in the Blue legislature, and he was chosen as an alternate delegate to attend the Conference on National Affairs (CONA) in North Carolina this summer.
FHE Delegation:
Senate – Kasen Wooters, Abby Huffman
House – Skyler Tabin, Daphne Hall, Derek Storrer, Aaly Kahn, Henry Martin
Lobbyist – Belle Rush
