Students Attend Youth and Government Event, Selected as Delegation of the Year
If the accomplishments of the MAHS student delegates to the 2024 PA Youth and Government Conference is any indication of what’s to come with the local, state and national political climate, the future is looking very bright. 
Youth and Government is a student-led and student-run mock government program where participants experience what it is like to run Pennsylvania. MAHS Youth and Government Advisors are social studies teachers Miss Shank and Mr. Coleman.
The conference is a weekend-long occasion where high school students from across the Commonwealth gather in Harrisburg and spend their time in the capitol acting as journalists, representatives and senators. They author, debate, and pass legislation which hopefully will be signed into law by the Youth Governor.
Sophomore Zoe Handwerk presented a bill which would require appropriate overtime compensation for agricultural employees. Zoe’s bill passed committee, the house, the senate, and eventually presented to the Youth Governor and signed into law “YAG Law.”
Zoe was also selected for the second year in a row to represent Middletown at the Conference on National Affairs (CONA), Youth and Government’s national conference which will be held this summer in North Carolina.
Senior Rashid Ibrahim was also selected to attend CONA. He and Zoe were among 25 students from across Pennsylvania selected to attend.
Senior Madison Yohe’s bill passed committee and the Senate, but unfortunately died in the House.
The event also provided students with the chance to act as political journalists and publish The Capitol Chronicle, the conference paper. Several MAHS students authored pieces for the publication.
Senior Layla Wall wrote, “Double the Justice(s),” highlighting the program’s growth in the judicial branch, and Junior Kylee Baumbach wrote, “PA Representative Justin Fleming’s Thoughts on the Program as an Alumni.” The piece was from an interview Baumbach did with actual Pennsylvania State Representative Justin Fleming. Fleming, who represents parts of Dauphin County, participated in Youth and Government as a high school student.
Senior Gabriella Garisto and Madeline Fox, Junior Hannah Hottenstein, and Sophomore Riley Nye were also credited for photographs published in the newspaper.
A total of 27 high school delegations were represented at the conference and Middletown was one of only three to be recognized as a “Premier Delegation.” To achieve Premier Delegation, groups had to show evidence of contact/outreach with elected officials as well as substantial community service hours. Even more noteworthy, Middletown was selected as the 2024 Delegation of the Year!
Thank you to Miss Shank and Mr. Coleman for investing time in your students and equipping them with tools to be successful and productive citizens and tomorrow's leaders. MASD is incredibly proud to offer students opportunities and experiences like Youth and Government to take ownership of their learning.