Youth and government is a club that simulates different government actions — such as mock legislatures and mock trials. Each meeting prepares the club members for a conference Jan. 5-8 where students will stay at Hilton Hotel for the duration of their time there. Senior club’s founder, Isaac Israel, said it was easy to start youth and government despite some initial setbacks. 

“There was confusion in administration where they were asking ‘what is this,’ ‘what does the school need to provide’,” Israel said. “It was just a little bit difficult because there was a lot of confusion about what it really is, but generally pretty easy to start.” 

Freshman club member, Ingrid Kotnik, said the club is a large commitment but is grateful for the opportunities it brings. 

“(You should) only join if you’re actually going to be interested in it. Not just to look good (on college applications) because it’s going to take work and preparation and you really want to make sure that you enjoy it,” Kotnik said. “It takes a lot of commitment.”

Sophomore Jaiden Leary said the club is a necessity because of the future he imagines for himself. 

“You should join depending on what you want to do with your life. This was very important to what I wanted to be so it was almost necessary for me to do this,” Leary said. 

According to Israel, joining the club has been a great experience for him because different interests can be found in government. 

“It’s good because it involves a variety of interests. Anybody who’s interested in going into law, politics, activism, communications or anything like that, you can find it in government and it’s a very valuable experience.” 

Kotnik said that she has a main goal in mind when learning how to be a successful politician. 

“A lot of politicians are considered corrupt and I don’t want to be associated with that, but at the same time it would be good to make things better,” Kotnik said.

Israel said that even if someone has no interest in the government, it is still worth a shot to try out the club and see if anything sparks their interest.

“I know people who have gone into youth and government who have no interest in anything that’s present in the government but they still enjoy the conference,” Israel said. “You can make new friends and there’s these awesome nightly activities that you do and it’s a really great experience.” 

Youth and government meets in C372 Mondays and Wednesdays after school.