7th-grade teacher Mr. Blair and a group of 10 students from sixth and seventh grade went to Austin to compete in a National Youth and Government Competition. This was Village Tech’s first time to compete in a live YAG competition. The group competed in virtual competitions last year but the experience was just not the same. At the live competitions, students were able to work on their presentation skills and were able to develop an idea of what they can do to prepare for an even bigger season next year. In fact, one of the students is already considering running for state office next year!

The Youth and Government program is a YMCA-sponsored competition meant to raise civic awareness in youth. At the middle school level, students compete in one of three areas on the competition:

• State Affairs: In groups of three, students select an issue that is plaguing the state of Texas and ideate a way to lessen or eliminate that problem. The group then writes a proposal and takes it to the competition to present. After their presentation, they participate in a Q&A session about their proposal and push for passage of their idea. This is the area in which most of our VT students competed.
• Legislative: As individuals, students come up with an idea for a law they believe should exist in the state of Texas. They write this law up in a bill and present it at the competition. Following the presentation, there is a debate as they fight for passage of their bill.
• Media: Students present stories through their own photos and/or writings. This year, VT had two students participate in the photography portion of this competition. Mrs. Kobbi Blair, a VT staff member as well as a former newspaper photojournalist helped train the students for this competition.

Overall, Mr. Blair and the competing students said that their first competition went pretty well. Not only is it the team’s first year participating in an in-person competition, the program itself is young and still trying to get one its feet. While none of our students place this year, two of our students, Kalla Nkrumah (6th) and Haleigh Powell (7th) were both recognized for their collaboration and contributions to their team and named as ‘Outstanding Club Leaders’. We are so proud of our middle school YAG team on taking on this awesome endeavor. Our high school YAG team will be headed to competition in April. Wish them luck and stay tuned for the results!