This year, Benilde-St. Margaret’s attempted to introduce the Youth in Government Club. The club was going to give students the opportunity to learn more about the United States government and to build public speaking and debate skills. There were many students who were excited to be involved in the club, however, it was unable to start this year.
Social studies teacher Dan Murray, who was planning to be a Youth in Government club advisor, along with social studies teacher Cherie Vroman, is disappointed that the club will not be started this year. The club takes a lot of time and student participation in order for it to become successful. “There was a lack of interest. There were some kids that were very interested, but one piece you need to take into account is the cost,” Murray said.
The club is costly due to the amount of activities that were planned. The expense and commitment of the club caused several students to lose interest. “We were going to have a conference for YIG in January, and that’s going to take two teacher days. So you need to build on the sub cost for that, plus the hotel costs,” Murray said.
Clubs like Youth in Government reflect well on college applications, initially attracting some students, like Miya Hudson. Though she did not have a huge interest in the club overall, she attended the informational meeting and wanted to participate. “I thought it would look good on college applications, so I did it for reasons such as that,” Hudson said.
Those who were going to be involved in the club were looking forward to all the opportunities it had to offer. Some of those opportunities include strengthening debate and public speaking skills as well as teaching students to participate in government roles at the State Capital.
Model United Nations is a club similar to Youth in Government. The club allows students to immerse themselves in global topics and discuss them from the perspective of different countries. Because these clubs are similar, that may be a reason some students lost interest. “There’s another one, Model UN, that’s also through the YMCA. But that’s a different organization,” Murray said.
You’ll need at least 12 to 15 kids to make it run, to make it economically feasible. Otherwise, it’s just too expensive.”
— Dan Murray
Though the club was unable to start, Murray has hopes of the club being reestablished in the near future, “You’ll need at least 12 to 15 kids to make it run, to make it economically feasible. Otherwise, it’s just too expensive,” Murray said.