By: Izzie McLawhorn, Shield Editor-in-Chief
NRCA’s Youth & Government (YAG) delegation had a successful 2024 conference.
Six NRCA students were voted into office. In the judicial branch, Josh Brown, sophomore, was elected to serve as associate justice, and Emma Mathes, junior, was elected to serve as district attorney for the YAG 2025 conference. In the legislative branch, juniors Robbie Burns and Taylor Ward were elected to serve as presiding officers for the next conference. In the executive offices, junior Jinhee Frecker was elected lieutenant governor, and junior Drew DiMeglio was elected the 33rd North Carolina youth governor.
NRCA students also crafted successful bills, and out of 63 bills that made it to the Governor’s Cabinet (“Gov Cab”), 11 of those were from NRCA. Thirty-six bills passed “Gov Cab,” and six passed bills were authored by NRCA students. They were the following:
Bill SB13
Summary: To make a DMV app so that DMV appointments (for example, getting after-nines) can be done via a virtual appointment to prevent backlog in DMV and decrease stress on DMV workers
Authors: Will Benthall, Chris Gomez, Nik Young
Bill SB35
Summary: Require college campuses to begin locking doors to protect college students and decrease violence
Authors: Alexa Seymour, Kate Stevens, Taylor Ward
Bill SB05
Summary: To facilitate public-private partnerships (P3s) as a means of funding new capacity expansion in ports
Author: Haley Lee
Bill SB08
Summary: To educate high school seniors on the dangers of Fentanyl
Authors: Merideth Connell, Cassidy Coutts, Mathis Meares
Bill SB06
Summary: All public classrooms would be required to have a door security bar accessible in case of a lockdown.
Authors: Sarah Mason and Caroline Newell
Bill FB06
Summary: To ensure that all low-income public school students do not go hungry over the weekend
Authors: Lia Foster and Cece Gue
The 2024 Youth & Government Conference, run by the YMCA, marked the 32nd conference in North Carolina. Congratulations to this year’s delegation for representing NRCA well.
