Youth in Government

Welcome to the South Carolina Youth in Government website

The SC YMCA Youth in Government program mourns the loss of a great YIG friend and volunteer. 

Dean Eichelberger was one of our most devoted, dedicated, and beloved judges for the YIG trial program. Scores, if not hundreds, of young people were blessed to have the luck of the draw that put them in his "courtroom" for their mock trials throughout the years. He loved getting a YIG t-shirt as our meager thanks for his time every year. He was patient and serious about his job as a volunteer judge. We are so sad, and will miss him.

Read more about Dean Eichelberger.

 

About SC YMCA YIG

 The Youth in Government program helps to create the next generation of good citizens. Through our programs, we demystify local, state and national governmental systems so tomorrow's adults will know how to effect change within these systems. We expand  horizons so young people will understand their role within a global society.

Students participate in:
  • Model Legislature and Court Conference for high school students - More than 1,000 students from 45 schools participate in this three-day conference at the statehouse in Columbia. Student legislators write and debate bills; attorneys try and appeal cases; reporters publish a newspaper and create a nightly newscast. This experience provides an intensive, hands-on learning project into the mechanisms and subtleties of the state government process.
  • Middle School Model United Nations - a year-round classroom project culminating in a two-day field trip where students create a Model United Nations. Students work in groups to study a specific country, which they represent at the conference. Students write and debate proposals, create a display booth from their country, and dress in native attire.

          April 11th-12th, 2013

           May 17th-19th, 2013 

  • CONA (Conference On National Affairs): The national Youth in Government conference - where students from across the nation spend a week discussing and debating national and international issues.
The Youth in Government program uses the service-learning model in the firm belief that leadership is developed by doing. High school students help provide leadership for our middle school programs, while college students - alumni of the Youth in Government program - provide leadership for our high school programming. All programs are guided and directed by committed adult volunteers and YMCA professional staff.

 

If you are interested in starting a Youth in Government Program at your school, e-mail our Executive Director Mary Capers Bledsoe. Click here for more information on the program.