Youth and Government participated in a mock legislature and court while in Sacramento over President’s Day weekend.

While in Sacramento, Youth and Government’s Diablo Valley delegation acted as various government officials including lawyers, senators, and assembly men. “There were a lot of different things that happen within the government. There were legislative, executive, and judicial branches plus the media,” junior Sharon Maher said.

Freshman Valerie Rockwell participated in a smaller version of Youth and Government called Forum. “There is a senate and an assembly and peers vote and debate,” Rockwell said.

Maher got the opportunity to be part of the court system. “We worked on a mock trial case and we got to have a real jury of our peers,” she said. Although the intensity was high, Maher believed it was the most enjoyable experience in Youth and Government she has had.

Because Maher was a part of the elected and appointed leadership, she was able to leave school a day early in order to travel to Sacramento. “We had to learn more about jury selection that trial court doesn’t have to learn about and we had to leave early to get the extra information,” she said.

According to Maher, Sacramento was a success. “Overall our delegation put in their all. This year has been a really good delegation with a lot of hard workers,” she said

The entire delegation consisted of 15 seniors, 20 juniors, 1 sophomore, and 8 freshmen from Campolindo, Acalanes, and various private schools. Maher hopes that more sophomores will join the delegation. “It’d be awesome to get more sophomores in the program,” Maher said.