Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Opening Ceremony topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Youth Legislature opens in Olympia with oaths, award and calls to civic engagement
Summary
Delegates at the Washington YMCA Youth Legislature took oaths of office, installed student officers, presented the Robert F. Utter award to Justice Mary Yu, and heard speeches urging delegates to keep their passion for public service alive. The opening joint session adjourned after a motion to end the ceremony.
The opening joint session of the Washington YMCA Youth Legislature convened in Olympia with student officers and statewide guests sworn into their roles and a series of remarks that stressed civic engagement and supporting peers.
Chief Justice Deborah Stevens of the Washington State Supreme Court administered oaths to delegates and to newly elected student officers, including Ra Reinhardt (speaker pro tem, Tacoma delegation), Anika Prabhakar (speaker of the house, Thurston delegation), Attorney General-elect Hannah Ullman (Bellevue delegation) and Secretary of State-elect Sruthi Lingam Natamay (Thurston delegation). After each oath the officer responded, "I do," and received congratulations from the assembly.
The session presented the Robert F. Utter award to Justice Mary Yu. Justice Yu accepted the honor and offered brief remarks commending the program’s emphasis on ethics and civic participation.
Youth Governor Hugh Carter (Mill Creek delegation) delivered the opening address, urging delegates to recover and sustain the passion that brought them to Youth in Government. "Your passion isn't gone. It's buried," Carter said, encouraging delegates to take risks, support one another and nominate peers for recognition via the conference’s Yap App and Google Drive link. He also announced a special delegate recognition to be given Saturday.
State Senator Tawana Nobles (28th Legislative District) told delegates that "your voice matters now," sharing her personal story from foster care and periods of housing instability to public service. Nobles described work she has sponsored to expand higher-education access for youth who have experienced homelessness and urged participants to listen to people affected by policies as they draft and debate bills at the conference.
Logistics announcements reminded delegates to collect bill books and papers, clean their seating areas, and report to program areas the next morning before the first session, which begins promptly at 9 a.m. The opening joint session concluded after an on-floor motion to adjourn (moved by a delegate identified as "Jackson" and seconded); delegates signified approval by placard and the moderator declared the motion passed.
The conference now moves to program-area committee work and floor sessions beginning the next morning.
