The students in Pine Bush High School’s Youth in Government club worked diligently on their platform planks. They were preparing to participate and compete in the area platform convention, which was held at Minisink High School last week. The convention mimics the major political parties with participants presenting policies they believe should be adopted for their party’s platform.
The Youth in Government club is advised by Charlene Webster. She revived the club about six years ago at the request of PBHS Principal Aaron Hopmayer. She has a passionate group of students this year. For the platform convention, they each chose a topic that may fit in one of the six categories: social, state, economy, local, foreign policy and environmental.
“This year we had very strong policies,” Mrs. Webster said. “Our students wrote excellent planks on topics that mean a lot to them.”
Mrs. Webster is there to help guide them but the work is all theirs. She and seven club members traveled to Minisink on Friday, Oct. 21, to compete against students from 11 other schools. Six of the students made their plank presentations to their political parties – the Citizens’ Party and the People’s Party – trying to persuade them to adopt their plank.
At the end of the presentations, party members debate the suggested plants and vote on which planks to include in their platform. While none of the planks from our Pine Bush representatives were selected, one was a runner up. Gavin Vendy’s plank in the foreign policy category came in second.
The winning planks were:
- Environmental – Increasing use of nuclear power
- Economics – Expansion of Medicaid
- Social – Legalizing abortion (on the federal level)
- State – Changing sex education to include middle school
- Local – Lowering small businesses’ income taxes
- Foreign Policy – Regulations on tariffs from China
“We have a very new, young team who got a great learning experience and are excited to continue in the program,” said Mrs. Webster. “The faculty advisors from the other schools were very impressed with our kids and their well thought out planks. It is only the beginning for these students and their support of their school is strong.”
Next up is the mock elections in November. The students will run for various offices including governor, district attorney, sheriff, county judge, family court, attorney general, state legislator and state senator. Pine Bush’s own Gavin Vendy was elected governor at last year’s virtual convention – one of the first ever from Pine Bush to hold that position!
2022 Participating School Districts
- Cornwall
- Florida
- Highland Falls
- Marlboro
- Middletown
- Minisink Valley
- Newburgh
- Pine Bush
- Port Jervis
- Valley Central
- Warwick
- Washingtonville
About Youth in Government
The Amy Bull Crist Youth-In-Government Program was inspired by Katherine St. George, former chairman of the Orange County Republican Committee and member of the U.S. House of Representatives. While addressing an Orange County Hi-Y Assembly in 1942, St. George related that she “found people well acquainted with national politics but woefully lacking in an understanding of how their local town and county governments functioned” and appealed for a greater interest in local government.
In 1944 the Youth-in-Government program was inaugurated through the guidance of Amy Bull Crist, Orange County superintendent of schools for whom the organization is named. Guided by the vision and devotion of these women, the program offers students the chance to learn firsthand about the democratic process. Students participate in mock conventions, student run elections, and also shadow elected officials from the local to national levels of government. County Service Day is the culmination of many students’ endless hours of work toward the goal of a better understanding of our governmental process. In no other county in New York State is there a program as long standing and encompassing as Orange County’s Amy Bull Crist Youth-In-Government Organization.