Youth in Government (YIG) had their second meeting of the year Sept. 18, to register and kick off the new school year. YIG is dedicated to letting students learn more about the government, specifically the Minnesota government. At the end of the year all of the members’ knowledge is tested at the annual conference at the Minnesota state capitol.
Junior and YIG treasurer Audrey Mancini said she originally joined YIG due to her friends, but ended up enjoying it and staying in the club.
“I actually joined because one of my best friends wanted me to do it, and it was something to put on college applications, but I really enjoyed being a part of a businessy atmosphere,” Mancini said.
Senior Tripp Danicic said he joined YIG because of his friends, as well as to learn more about Minnesota’s government.
“Some of my friends were doing it, and they invited me,” Danicic said. “It seemed like an interesting opportunity, because it’s learning about government, and I wanted to be a part of that.”
Germain said there are a lot of people interested in YIG this year, and the program continues to grow.
“The turnout continues to be pretty big. We are the fastest growing delegation in the network, and we continue to have a lot of interest,” Germain said.
Danicic said his goal for the year is to have fun and continue to meet more people who are interested in YIG.
“My goals are to just have fun and meet new people honestly. There’s a lot of people here,” Danicic said. “I’m doing it with my friends, so I’m excited for that.”
Mancini said this year is different from the past because there’s more students in leadership positions within the club. In previous years, there were only a few leadership positions.
“This is the first year where we’ve had a full student leadership committee and a full council with assigned jobs,” Mancini said. “In the past, we’ve just had a few unofficial student leaders. But this year, everyone has their own role.
Germain said she is excited to see what the student leadership this year plans to do with YIG, and what members bring to the conference.
“I’m most excited to just see what new ideas students are able to come up with and introduce through their bills and at the conference, and also to see our new leadership take over,” Germain said. “I think they’re going to do lots of cool things with the club.”
Mancini said it’s exciting to see how many people are interested in YIG, especially the new members and underclassmen.
“I’m most excited for the amount of people we have doing it,” Mancini said. “It’s really exciting to see the amount of younger kids, especially, who are interested.”
YIG meets next Wednesday Sept. 25. after school in room C361.
