Youth and Government is a national program of the Y which allows thousands of teens across the nations to participate in model government, mock legislature program. This February, West Albany High School’s own delegation—which is the group of our students participating in the program—traveled to the Oregon state capital in Salem for the event.

West Albany student Grant Farley (Senior) comments on the program and his recently elected position as President of the Senate before getting on the bus to Salem.

“Youth and Government is pretty fun,” says Farley. “[President of the Senate] is a pretty cool position. I get to introduce the governor [Kate Brown] and I get to run the senate session.”

Farley was able to obtain the position with an actual mock election. “During the pre-legislative assembly, [anybody] could run for a position. It was me versus two other people for the position—and I ended up winning!”

During Youth and Government, anyone can submit their own mock legislation to be debated as a bill during the program. Grant Farley, along with being President of the Senate, is pushing a bill to raise the driving age to 18 and to change the permit age to 16. Farley says that allowing two full years of learning how to drive will increase safety on the road for teenagers.

”To save lives, that’s exactly the reason. Teenagers are bad drivers.”

Farley’s bill, along with many other legislature created by students across the state, will be debated during the conference. It gives every student a chance to raise their political awareness and learn how legislation works.

”It’s a super fun program, and if you want to learn more you can talk to Mr. Zimmerman.”