Fostering the next generation of public leaders is imperative for the continued progression of the country and at Nevada Girls State, that’s exactly what the organization is all about.
Founded more than seven decades ago, Nevada Girls State is celebrating 75 years of educating and inspiring students through its week-long course on government processes, with the 2023 program just weeks away. In order to ensure as many young lives as possible are touched by the program, the organization is encouraging citizens of the Silver State to step up and chip in. Donations made to Nevada Girls State will then be turned into program scholarships for students whose families may not be in a financial situation to afford such an opportunity.
“In 1947, the Nevada Girls State program welcomed its very first delegates from across the state to the Reno High School campus,” a letter from the organization details of the program’s history. “Since then, we have welcomed a new group of future leaders from all across Nevada each year, and each year these students have spent a week learning about city, county and state government by acting as those governments and writing legislation on the many topics they think are worthy of consideration.”
Nevada Girls State Program Chair Courtenay Burns, a graduate of Pahrump Valley High School, reported that she had attended the Nevada Girls State program along with a fellow Pahrump Valley high schooler in 2006 but at the time, the organization wasn’t keeping track of which students were from which schools. She herself started tracking those statistics in 2008 and since that year, there have been a total of 11 Nye County high school students who have participated in the program.
“Nevada Girls State is a once-in-a-lifetime, fast-paced academic experience presented by the American Legion Auxiliary and each year, about 20,000 young women attend the Girls State program taking place across the country,” the letter continues. “Every year delegates tell us the program has changed their lives in many ways, from helping students become more confident public speakers, to introducing them to a passion they didn’t know they had, to making lifelong friends with people they probably wouldn’t have met outside this program. We also know that many of our alumnae go on to lives of public service.”
Some Nevada Girls State delegates have found careers in the various branches of the military while others have become teachers, doctors, lawyers and even elected officials, with women such as former Nevada State Senator Valerie Wiener, former Nevada Secretary of State and former Nevada Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa and former Nevada First Lady Sandy Miller counted among the organization’s alumnae.
“This year, Nevada Girls State will take place from June 11-17 at the University of Nevada, Reno and we hope to welcome at least 100 students. But we know that the cost of attendance is out of reach for many students; in 2021, 19% of children under the age of 18 in Nevada lived in households with incomes below the federal poverty level,” the letter states. “Your support is key to helping more students who might not otherwise have the chance to attend a program that could change their lives, and to helping us achieve our mission of, ‘Empowering women, inspiring communities to develop tomorrow’s leaders’.”
A donation of $500 will provide two program scholarships but as the letter noted, “…every dollar you give… takes us one step closer toward our goal of helping young women discover a new way they can make a lasting impact on the community, state and nation.”
Donations are accepted year-round and can be made to support a specific student, if the donor wishes.
Checks can be made payable to ALA Nevada Girls State Inc., 4030 Bobolink Circle, Reno, NV, 89508. Donations can also be made online at www.NevadaGirlsState.net
For more information or to register for the program visit the aforementioned website.
The deadline to register for June’s program is May 31. Participants must be entering their senior year in high school in the fall of 2023.
Contact reporter Robin Hebrock at rhebrock@pvtimes.com