The William Floyd High School Youth and Government program recently continued its long line of successes at the annual New York State YMCA Youth and Government conference, held in the state’s legislative chambers in Albany in late March! In the conference, featuring more than 750 student-delegates from across New York State engaging in mock NYS governance, William Floyd student-delegates excelled in presenting bills and briefs that they have been working on since September. The students received recognition for their fantastic work, including a scholarship, numerous awards and a total of six students being elected as statewide officers for next year’s conference!

The students selected for statewide officer positions at next year’s conference are: Lily Quinn, Speaker of Assembly Freedom; Joyce Chen, Senate Pro-Tempore, Senate Freedom; Jibran Akaloo, Deputy Pro-Tempore, Senate Liberty; Erin Chen, Deputy Pro-Tempore, Assembly Liberty; Violet Yau, Attorney General; and Muhammad Saad, Comptroller.

Please note that due to the number of students involved, each legislative branch of government has two versions: Assembly Liberty and Assembly Freedom; and Senate Liberty and Senate Freedom.

The elected state officers for next year’s conference are carrying on the torch from this year’s class of elected officials, including: Olivia Phillips, Governor; Aisha Barrie, Senate Pro-Tempore, Senate Liberty; Hiba Farooq, Speaker, Assembly Freedom; Kaitlyn Corn, Deputy Speaker, Assembly Liberty; Alice Chen, Attorney General; and Kayla Bundick, Public Defender, who all represented William Floyd with class and dignity.

Awards

Best Debater in Assembly Liberty
Jasraj Minhas

Best Debaters in Assembly Freedom
Sofia Ariza and Lily Quinn

Best Debater in Senate Liberty
Jibran Akaloo

Best Debater in Senate Freedom
Joyce Chen

Best Bill in Senate Liberty
Jibran Akaloo, Hamza Cheema, Muhammad Saad and Muhammad Umair

Best Bill in Senate Freedom
Isabella Ayala, Hailey Cutrone, Madison Edwards and Julianna Weiss

Service-Learning Liaison Exemplar Award
Sarah Foley

Outstanding Delegate
Jasraj Minhas

Fosdick-San Antonio Scholarship
Hannah Schultzer

Helping lead the William Floyd student-delegates in this successful conference are co-advisors Robert Feeney and Alyssa Tepper. Mr. Feeney, who has served as the program’s advisor since 1985, has had the opportunity to mentor generations of students with an interest in government and public policy. Under his guidance, dozens of former students have achieved success in public policy, government and law, with many serving prominent roles in the public sector. He is also a member of the YMCA Youth & Government Hall of Fame. Both Mr. Feeney and Ms. Tepper are extremely proud of the accomplishments of the William Floyd Youth and Government students, who worked very hard to prepare for this conference throughout the school year.

Many of these students were also chosen to participate in national conferences slated for later this year. Senior Dua Ali, junior Sarah Foley, senior Olivia Phillips, junior Muhammad Saad and sophomore Owen Vaughan were selected to participate in the Conference on National Affairs, a conference focused on creating, discussing and debating proposals of national and international concern. The conference will take place this summer at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina. Additionally, senior Kayla Bundick, senior Alice Chen, sophomore Matthew Danielsen, junior Berline Francois and senior Renae-Marie Kelly were selected to participate in the National Judicial Competition, where they’ll engage in mock trials to model judicial components. The competition will take place in July at the Minnesota State capitol in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Congratulations to all the student-delegates on such a successful conference!

Please see additional photos in the album below!