Three area girls recently attended Oregon Girls State at Willamette University in Salem.
“During their time at Girls State, the girls learned the responsibility of citizenship in the United States of America,” said Mary DeLong, local Girls State chair. “They become acquainted with the process necessary in forming city, county and state government.”
They also learned about parliamentary procedure and held mock trials to learn about the process of appeal at the Supreme Court.
Workshops about how to select a college were held and a candle light service provided information about flag etiquette.
Girls State is sponsored by the American Legion Auxiliary. There is no cost to delegates.
“Many former delegates have become successful in private business and also in the congress of our government,” Mrs. DeLong said.
SHHS graduate Annamarie Wilson attended Girls State as a delegate in 2003 and returned as a counselor in 2004.
“Coming back as a junior counselor, I didn’t feel any of the pressures of making friends or running for office that I had felt as a citizen last year,” Wilson said.
She added that her experience was “a fantastic mixture of unbelievable stress and responsibility combined with moments of fulfillment and euphoria. I had the wonderful and challenging opportunity to improve the Girls State experience for each of the 24 girls in my county on a daily basis.”
Girls State, Wilson believes, truly changes girls’ lives.
The best part about Girls State was really the individual girls who took the time to tell me how I had touched their lives,” she said.
Delegate Megan Henson agrees that Girls State is “an amazing experience and I will never forget it.”
She said that once she began making friends, she found others to be “intelligent and friendly and I soon found myself forming strong, lasting relationships.”
Although she describes herself as introverted, Henson was so bolstered by her experiences, that she ran for the Supreme Court and gave a speech before 200 delegates.
“Girls State was awesome and I really appreciate the opportunity to have gone,” she said.
Delegate Jenny Price called the program, “fantastic.”
“I learned a lot, not only about government, but about myself as well,” she said. “Girls State was a chance for me to go outside my bubble and not be afraid of what others thought of me.”