St. Patrick students attend Mississippi Youth and Government Legislature Conference

Last week (November 8 through November 11), 24 of St. Patrick’s future political leaders, along with advisors Mike DeSalvo, Kaitlyn Norton and Elena Guida, attended the Mississippi Youth and Government Legislature Conference at the State Capitol in Jackson, Mississippi.

Students had the opportunity to learn about and simulate the lawmaking process through the creation of bills and through presentations to committees, the House of Representatives and the Senate. If a presented bill survived all the amendments and voting processes, it was sent to a Youth Governor for final approval.

St. Patrick displayed outstanding leadership by securing 13 of the 32 official positions. This included elected officials Hannah Gautier as Lieutenant Governor, Lillie Guida as Speaker of the House, Hayden Miller as Senate Majority Leader, Chloe Rizk as House Majority Leader, Julia Bruffey as Secretary of the Senate, Makayla Pfarrer as Clerk of the House, and Robert Starks as House Sergeant-at-Arms. St. Patrick students totaled only 8 percent of the attendees and held more than 40 percent of the leadership positions.

After four days of intense debate and networking, House Bill 45, led by Will McMackin (senior), passed the Senate by a majority vote, and the bill was signed into law by the Youth Governor. Other accomplishments included the recognition of Matthew Bisner (senior) as an Outstanding Senate Member and Chris Alley (junior) as an Outstanding Representative.

Additionally,  the week was full of campaigns and debates for elections of next year’s officials. Once again, St. Patrick will lead the State with a return to the 59th session of the Youth Legislature conference with Honorable Youth Governor Max Grill (junior), Lieutenant Governor Hayden Miller (junior), and Speaker of the House Clayton Stoddard (sophomore).

The students and faculty would also like to give special appreciation to Mrs. Elena Guida for eight years of chaperoning, advising, and caring for St. Patrick’s Youth Legislature delegation with passion and generosity – we are so grateful!

By Kaitlyn Norton, Math Department