Students take over State Capitol for Sacramento conference

By Declan Chin

Staff Writer

 

Ninety students from SPHS traveled to Youth and Government Model Legislature and Court’s Sacramento conference to participate in a variety of program areas including debating bills in the Senate and Assembly, and arguing court cases in Bench Trial or Appellate Court.

An important event of the Sacramento conference is the selection of next year’s Youth Governor. Each candidate chooses a political party to support them in their campaign. Senior Jake Levy served as the political party chair of the Resistance Party. The Resistance Party sponsored youth governor candidate Nate Rowe from the Crescenta Cañada delegation, who made it to the final round of voting before losing.

The year would not end for some delegates, however, as the Youth and Government staff also selected the delegates to be a part of the Conference on National Affairs (CONA) and National Judicial Competition (NJC). Thirty students are selected for each team out of hundreds of applicants and will go on to compete against delegates from other states during the summer. CONA members write and debate on proposals to help solve national issues, while the NJC members compete in mock trials. Senior Jake Levy and sophomore Cole Cahill were chosen for CONA, while juniors Isabel Barbera, Charlotte Emerson, and sophomore Amelia Anthony were chosen for NJC.

“The year was really great,” SPASM Secretary Maya Crain said. “So many delegates got involved statewide and represented SPASM so well. There was participation all year round from delegates in every grade and I think we ended on a very positive note.”