Last weekend, at the State Capitol in Austin, more than 1,400 kids from all across Texas came to compete at the annual Youth and Government state conference. This conference is comprised of three areas of state government: judicial, state affairs and legislative. A team of 24 Highland Park High School students in grades 9-12 competed in the various areas. A mock trial team comprised of: Caroline Holland, Jake Gile, Trajan Acquista, Charlotte Clark, John Cowden, Nina Flores, Catherine Geilich and Hannah Howell, won first place in the district court competition. This qualifies them to compete at the national level in Chicago later this year. Jake Gile and Caroline Holland also won top prosecuting attorney honors.
In addition to the team honors, the following students placed in their perspective sections:
Jack Weakley placed second out of eigthteen in the Justice section of appellate court.
Lucy Hagenbuch won distinguished delegate in the state affairs section.
With the success of the Youth and Government program at the High School level we are looking to expand the program to the middle school, grades 6-8. Please contact Bob Timmer at: rtimmer@ymcadallas.org for more information.