Palo Alto Family YMCA Youth & Government Program Takes Honors At Annual Event At State Capital

Online, February 25, 2010 (Newswire.com) - PALO ALTO, CA - February 24, 2010 - The Palo Alto Family YMCA announced today that its teens participating in its Youth & Government program recently returned from the state capital, after attending the 62nd Youth and Government Model Legislature and Court which concluded last week in Sacramento.

The program helps Palo Alto high school students who are interested in the parliamentary system and politics. The curriculum encourages students to role-play by taking governmental positions such as legislators, and lobbyists, teaches them to write legislative bills and helps them to practice parliamentary procedures. Continuing to grow since its inception, the program at the Palo Alto Family YMCA now has more than 30 students participating from various local high schools, including Palo Alto High and Gunn High. The program is year-round, and helps students gear up for the big event, when students travel to Sacramento for the five-day Model Legislature and Court session and take over for the government.

"The Youth & Government program is very popular with our teen members," said Daniel Koba, Youth And Family Director of the Palo Alto Family YMCA. "It is a great opportunity for these students to get hands-on experience relating to how our state government works - not by observing, but by taking part and being involved. It is an invaluable chance for them to make a change in legislature, and make new friendships and have some fun along the way."

Participating in this year's event as statewide elected or appointed positions for the Palo Alto Family YMCA were the following students: Peter Johnston , Adversary General of the National Issues Commission; Diego Marin, News Reporter for the KYNG Media (student lead video media); Paloma Mansour, Head of the Youth Governor's Lobbyist; Thomas Sheehan , Youth Governors Lobbyist ; Naomi Pederson, Youth Secretary of State Chief Page; Noemi Wyss, Jury Trial Prosecutor. Additionally, Kuran Freyermuth was elected to participate in the Youth & Government Conference on National Affairs., and 20 applicants were chosen out of 80 to represent the California Youth & Government program in a national conference this summer.

In addition to the statewide officers listed above, the rest of the delegation all shared success in their program areas during the week-long event, including:

* Neulyn Moss; Pierre Boudin, and Meghan Byrd all won their Mock Trial Court cases.
* Kuran Freyermuth and Aaron Bajor won their Appellate Court cases.
* Priya Gosh worked on rewriting the California Constitution with 70 of her peers from the state.
* Ian Eblovi successfully passed his bill through his Senate Committee on instituting an Emotional Intelligence curriculum in all of the schools in the state of California.
* Michael Augustine successfully passed his bill through Senate committee enacting an option for a reduced sentence for non-violent sex offenders who undergo voluntary chemical castration in lieu of a full sentence.
* Livia Wyss, Amy Fundenburg, Taylor Williams, Jonathon Malik, Leo Moley all contributed in the success of their bill in regards to creating a tax deferred account for minors where all of their taxes would be held in a deferred account that then could be used towards higher education after they receive their high school diploma or GED. This bill passed committee, the Assembly Floor and the Senate Floor. It was also signed and endorsed by the Youth Governor.

This year the Palo Alto Family YMCA delegation continued to show its excellent by winning the title of Premier Delegation. This title is bestowed upon delegations by a sect committee of Staff, Volunteers and Board Members who follow strict criteria that include leadership, unity and spirit, behavior, participation and volunteerism.

For more information about the Palo Alto Family YMCA and the Youth & Government program, please contact Daniel Koba, Youth & Family Director at dkoba@ymcasv.org or (650)842-2753. For all media inquiries, please contact Tina Casalino at tcasalino@ymcasv.org or 650-842-2792