Chaminade Youth and Government Conference
Most of the Chaminade student population can’t have much say in our current government. We can’t vote, run for office, or effectively protest as high school students. Youth and Government fills this hole in many young people’s lives by allowing students to participate in a mock version of the Missouri state government.
The YAG conference this year started on November 30 when the Chaminade delegation arrived at Jefferson City, only a couple of blocks away from the Capitol building. Months in advance, the Chaminade delegation carefully crafted their bills to have the best chance of getting their law passed by the house, senate, and governor. The conference started out with a short meeting welcoming the various student delegations, and it was followed by committees.
Committees are where students first propose their bills, and this process is a much simpler version of what eventually happens in the house or senate. From each of the five committees, around two to three bills are chosen to be debated in the house. Often the bills aren’t voted on, but instead are ranked on various criteria. Some great Chaminade bills that sadly didn’t get past committee were Tate Wojciechowski’s (‘24) bill requiring the Pledge of Allegiance to be recited twice per school day, and Luke Hurley and Dennison Haines’ bill on bus lanes. The next step was for the chosen bills to be debated in the house and senate. A bill made by the legislature would be debated in the house first, and a bill made by a senator would be debated in the senate first. Bills passed in one would then need to pass in the other and then needed to be signed by the governor. I asked Tristan McKean (‘24) some questions about the YAG trip:
Q: What was your bill about?
A: It was about paying jurors more and providing child care centers for members of the court
Q: How did you come up with and prepare your bill?
A: My partner came up with it, but we researched through looking up the Missouri laws/constitution.
Q: How did your bill do at the conference?
A: It passed both house and senate and was signed into law.
Q: What was your favorite part of YAG this year?
A: My favorite part was going to the capitol building.
Additionally, students have the option of being a lawyer in the judicial branch, working on cases. I interviewed Hank Seo (‘26) about his experience as a lawyer at YAG:
Q: What was your case about?
A: [A] city council member named [G]onzales was trying to fire the city manager, but that time she lost her document, and [the] police accuse her with not protect[ing] [the] government document. She claimed in retaliation because she tried to fire [the] manager and they have connection with [the] police.
Q: How well did you do at YAG?
A: I did both side[s], but [I] didn’t make the final. I just did it three time[s] and [was] done.
Q: What was your favorite part of YAG this year?
A: I hung out with my friends, that was fun.”
With Ben Gorin (‘26) and Rafail Revutsky (’26) also getting bills passed, the Chaminade delegation had a fun and successful time at the YAG conference this year.
