The Albany delegation experiences exponential growth in the number of applicants to join their program.
By Bryn Michenfelder
California Youth & Government (Y&G) is a program offered at Albany High school that gives students across California the opportunity to experience government, by simulating the state’s legislative, judicial, and executive branches. Delegates–members of the program–engage in conferences, debates and mock government sessions. This teaches students leadership, teamwork, public speaking, and critical thinking. There are many different program areas, such as the Board of Education, Apellete Court, Department of Finace, International Convention, and many more.
The Albany delegation has always been small, with around 20 delegates. But last year, there was a spike, with around 80-90 new people. Senior and this year’s delegation president, Tenzing Gyamokhang, said, “There was definitely some chaos adjusting to so many more delegates, but it was also really exciting. Our delegation’s community grew so much and it was so much fun. We are hoping to stay a bigger delegation and bring more attention to Y&G!”
Meetings are once a week, where Y&G members talk about the upcoming conferences and how to prepare for them. Sophomore and Y&G member Talia Silverman said, “I honestly look forward to the meetings every week. They are really fun and do a good job getting us ready for the upcoming conference. I also think it’s really cool the meetings are mostly run by our elected officers like Tenzing and Kaelin .”
There are two conferences that delegates attend. Camp Roberts, or “Camp Bob,” and Sacramento, or “Sac.” At meetings members prepare for these conferences so they are able to participate and get the best understanding of their program area. At Camp Bob, all the delegates in a program area meet and make a plan and start preparing for Sacramento, where most programs aim to get a bill passed with Congress.
Sophomore Che Holts says “I like Sac more because I liked the atmosphere of Sac better than Camp Bob. I think being in barracks at Bob was cool but the overall energy and excitement of Sac really stood out to me. It’s the final conference, everyone’s trying to get their bills to pass and everyone is so involved. It was really satisfying seeing what all the hard work was for and watching people debate so passionately.”
People were confused by the exponential growth in the Albany delegation. Last year, the freshman class of 2028 took great interest in the Y&G program, being the majority of the delegation. Because of the positive experiences, most of the freshman members returned, while also encouraging others to join as well. This year, there were so many newcomers from every grade, causing the delegation to have to make a limit to the amount of delegates that could participate. The passion and love for this program that the Albany delegates present has encouraged many to also take interest in Y&G and will seemingly continue to increase the amount of people applying each year.
10th grader, Aine Forrest Flahave says, “I think everyone should at least consider doing Y&G! It’s honestly so much fun and you learn a lot, not just about the government but also how to work with other people. There’s so many different options of what you can do and you get to pick what you want so you’re doing something you’re genuinely interested in.”
