Youth and Government, in partnership with the YMCA, is one of the newest clubs on campus. The club is sponsored by Mrs. Danielle Bell, the adviser for the Publications programs.

“We are the pilot school for Leander ISD, and we’re working closely with Sophia Griffin at the YMCA to make our first team be successful at the district conference on November 22,” Mrs. Bell said.

The mission is, according the YMCA Y&G site, to prepare a selected group of people for moral and political leadership in the American democratic process by providing guidance, training and experience in the theory and practice of determining public policy on the state level. It also provides students with the opportunity to study and debate public issues, write legislation, and participate in a Youth Legislature.

“Youth and Government is a career interest club,” senior vice-president Caroline Cravens said. “It’s for kids that really have an interest in journalism. It’s a bigger program than just Leander’s journalism department, and students in Y&G have access to equipment journalism students don’t get to use.”

There are different programs offered by Y&G that schools can take part in such as Judicial, Legislative, Media, Model UN, and State Affairs Forum. The program our school has decided to take part in is Media.

“We decided to do the media project because it just went well with our strengths and what we wanted,” Cravens said. “It caters to my desire to test out some broadcast type coverage, but it also allows for people like (senior president) Alex Norato to show off his already acquired incredible photography skills.”

Most of the members consist of students that are in Journalism 1, Newspaper, or Yearbook, but students who wish to join do not have to be in the journalism classes. They do, however, have to be willing to learn and willing to work.

“We have an assignment each week that involves finding and dissecting news article for learning, and then we have this one big project we all kind of work on,” Cravens said.

Unfortunately, it is too late to join Y&G this year, but if all goes well with the program this year, students are more than welcome to join.

For more information, visit the Texas Youth and Government website.