The

FALL DISTRICT III CONFERENCE SPECIAL EDITION SATURDAY NOVEMBER 17, 2012

Page Note

Each FDC presents

an opportunity for each

chapter to show off a bit

to its peers, and this

year was no exception.

All three chapters in the

South County Delegation

were happy to share

how they had grown

since last year.

“We had no training

whatsoever,” Natalie

Tuttle recalls. In only its

third year of Youth In

Government, the

Treasure Coast chapter

has made leaps and

bounds from its first

State Assembly. One of

their very own, Lillian

Tysinger, was elected as

Commissioner of

Agriculture just last year.

The Baron Collier

Chapter has also made

headway this year,

nearly doubling their

membership. “That was

really one our main

focuses this year, getting

more people,” says

chapter President,

Emma O’Halloran Leech.

With the majority of

their delegates being

first years, the Fort

Myers Chapter has faced

a similar opportunity to

grow their membership.

All of the South County

Chapters are ready to

shine this year.

CAT SMITH

Phi Delta Y Chapter

The South County Delegation, courtesy of Alex Whiteside.

Youth In Government is all about State Assembly, or at least

that’s what many delegates seem to think.

On the contrary, the YIG experience doesn’t have to end the moment we

leave Tallahassee. Once our time at the

capitol ends, many new opportunities arise for delegates who wish to

further their leadership experience. The Junior

Assembly is in May and

high school delegates are always encouraged

to attend as mentors and show their middle school counterparts the

exciting future ahead of them.

During the summer months, delegates are encouraged to attend

the Conference on National Affairs (CONA)

in June, and the National Judicial Program (NJP) in July. Though the two

programs focus on two different branches, both

bring delegates from all

over the country together to discuss their

shared interests. They work to elevate delegates’ involvement

in the government, expanding from state to

national levels. Delegates who wish to gets a real-life and

hands-on experience with the lobbying

process are encouraged to participate in the Y Advocacy Days in

January. Advocates accompany the Y

officials to Tallahassee to

help lobby for policies that benefit the health

and well-being of their own communities. YIG in itself can be a

life changing experience, but it does not have to

stop there. Delegates who wish to take on stronger leadership roles

and truly institute change should apply to

one or even all of these amazing opportunities via the Deledex before

the deadline on January 9th, 2013.

Going Above and Beyond State Assembly

South County Delegation Roll Call

CAT SMITH

Phi Delta Y Chapter

As much as delegates are loathe to admit it, much of the YIG process

involves research. However, locating the

right information for a bill or brief is often much easier said than done.

Luckily for District III, guest speaker Harry

Enten has copious experience. Enten is currently a

data correspondent in New York for the UK

newspaper , The Guardian. His job entails

using statistics as a new

perspective on news. His skills were in high

demand recently because of the presidential election

polls, but he has also covered stories on

Hurricane Sandy and the shootings in Aurora, Colorado .

Enten presented “Debate by Numbers,”

showing delegates how to find and sort through data (Google is always

Step #1) and use that data to either support or

undermine a particular argument. He also

recommended sites like n c s l . o r g a n d

Thomas.gov for state and national bills.

Enten’s presentation provided new and useful

tools to YIG delegates and it’s possible that

“research” isn’t such cringe-inducing word

because of him.

Harry Enten presents “Debate by Numbers”, courtesy of Alex Whiteside.

The Junior Youth I n G o ve r n me n t

p r o g r a m i s paramount to getting

students involved in high school, however, this year marks the

first time JYIG de l e ga te s have

attended FDC. For the last few years, the South

County JYIG program h a s f l o un de r ed

through the year with only a couple of

middle schools and a handful of students. T h i s y e a r ’ s

increase is thanks to the new delegation

spon so r , De re k Summerville, who has

been working hard to

reach out to schools. Like their high

schools counterparts, the JYIG delegates were taught bill

writing and debate procedures during

FDC. “I think it’s fun and I like to debate,”

says sixth grader Joey Flores of Oasis

Middle School. All of the JYIG de l e ga t e s we re

excited to debate, even a funny bill that

required everyone to speak in funny

accents, and readily agreed to keep participating after

they went to high school.

CAT SMITH

Ft. Myers High School

Chapter

Oasis Jr. Youth In Government

FALL DISTRICT III CONFERENCE SPECIAL EDITION SATURDAY NOVEMBER 17, 2012 2

Guest speaker spotlight CAT SMITH

Ft. Myers High School

Chapter

How will you lead? “The leaders of tomorrow are the future of the next generation, and they can make a difference in what the next generation will become.” Angie Buxheli Palms Delegation “I have always wanted to be on the Supreme Court, and because of Youth In Government, I’ve actually got to see what it’s like. And that’s only reinforced my dream.” Thomas Seidler Chief Justice “I don’t really want to be a representative, I want to be behind the scenes, so that’s why I loved lobbying. I absolutely loved it.” Natalie Tuttle Chief of Staff “I want to be President one day.” Jeffrey Hahn Secretary of State