TORRINGTON – The end of the school year is in plain sight, and truth be told students all over the county must certainly be looking forward to a nice long break.

Nine months of studying, athletics, and extracurriculars certainly can take a toll on the minds of our youth. Admittedly and understandably, students do deserve a breather this time of year.

For Tylar Stoddard, Madison Gibson, and Jersey Houk, however, this year’s summer vacation is sure to begin with a future academic edge. Each young lady will be making the short journey to Cheyenne June 9-15 for the annual American Legion Auxiliary Girls State (ALA) event.

As mentioned on the ALA Wyoming Department website, the purpose of the event is to provide citizenship training for young ladies who have completed their junior year of high school, while also providing them with opportunities to work as self-governing citizens.

As part of the weeklong event, the girls will learn about various responsibilities, duties, rights, and privileges of American citizenship. In turn, the week should give them long-lasting knowledge and exposure to just how congressional, judicial, and executive branches of government work.

While Lingle-Fort Laramie (LFL) juniors Gibson and Houk will be making their first trip to the event; Stoddard of Southeast will have the privilege of returning a second time not only as a graduating senior, but as a junior counselor helping to guide and mentor young ladies who have never experienced the event before.

“I’m most excited to go back as a junior counselor this time and be able to help and give delegates more, or at least the same experience I had last year,” Stoddard said. “I’ve definitely learned a lot more about the government and how everything has to be sent through the House and Senate. This as well as how trials are run in court. I’ve learned a lot more about that.”

Stoddard would additionally add what a positive feeling it is to see younger ladies such as herself take the initiative to participate in the event as she did once before. According to this year’s veteran and junior counselor, having a bit of courage while stepping out of one’s comfort zone is the first step in participating in something extremely enlightening.

“I’ve seen a lot of others as well get out of their comfort zones like I did,” Stoddard continued. “We are all put in different dorms, so we meet new people all the time. I’m really hoping to go and see everybody I met last year. I want to reconnect and work together again while watching everyone else grow and gain new experiences through the trip. I think in comparison to last year, it will be exciting to see all the new delegates like I was. With all the motions and everything, it’s going to be very wonderful to see. I feel I will be far more comfortable and relaxed this year.”

When it comes to experiencing something new and different, but immensely important for the future of government; both LFL juniors Gibson and Houk agree the event is something to embrace and learn from in the long term.

“I’m really looking forward in growing new friendships,” Gibson said. “Being in such a small town everyone knows everyone, so you kind of already have those bonds built with people. I think just by going to Cheyenne with everyone from the state being there, there will be lots of new people to meet. I think it’s going to be a very good time to not only grow as a person but grow those friendships.”

According to Gibson, who will be running for a position as “Secretary of State” during the week, the event should be a great first-hand introduction to a possible career in corrections; a field her family already has extensive experience in.

“I’m really hoping to get a deeper understanding of how things are run, especially the court system,” Gibson added. “I am really hoping to be one of the few girls who are able to be on the court system there. I absolutely have a passion for criminal justice, law, government, all those things. I think this will help me in my future, is something valuable to know and maintain knowledge about overall as I want to study Pre-law when I go to college.”

Additionally, Gibson has already expressed incredible difficulties involved in writing a proposed government bill with the intent to be passed.

“I’m very excited, and have had certain experiences like this before,” Gibson continued. “And I’ve learned a lot from them. So, I’m very eager to learn in-depth about government and running for Secretary of State. One challenge I have already encountered is writing my bill. It’s definitely something I had to overcome. Of course, I know they exist but never understood truly what goes into them, and the time it takes to write along with so much knowledge and research. It’s a challenge, but I have definitely learned from it and am excited to see what happens to my bill.”

Houk concurred with both Stoddard and Gibson and sincerely expressed a notion of wanting to improve her leadership skills while participating in Girls State.

As Houk will be looking to fill the Governor position over the course of the week, if elected the spot will almost certainly give her the experience she expressed currently wanting.

“I’m very enthusiastic about being able to hopefully grow and utilize my leadership skills, and connect with others at the camp,” Houk added. “Also, I want to learn about local governments as a whole, and on a more regular basis as I enter adulthood. More specifically in how it affects me as well as the people around me. As I’ll be running for Governor, after Girls State I want to bring back the experience of seeing other’s perspectives, the knowledge I gain from them, and being able to apply it to so many other things.”

Houk would jokingly add, “One of the challenges I expect is making connections at a fast pace, as I’m typically a person you have to get used to.”

Shortly before each young lady returned to their weekly Friday routine, Stoddard’s mother Cathy spoke of how vastly important it is for young adults, particularly females to get involved with government tasks and processes.

As Cathy put it, Girls State has great participation but could certainly use so much more.

“One of the main reasons I wanted them to do this is to get information out there,” Cathy said. “I feel there isn’t enough attention on it. Girl’s State has been trying to get over 100 girls. I believe this year we have about 70 delegates from the entire state of Wyoming, which is not a lot compared to what we should be getting. I feel there are a lot of wonderful summer camps all over the place with all the different things kids can do in the summertime, but this is only for one week. It’s a fun opportunity for the girls, and as far as leadership development it’s going to be super beneficial to meet new people and expand their connections.”