August 10, 2009

Dear YIG Middle School Advisors,

I hope you had a wonderful, restful summer.  We’re very excited to begin a new year of YMCA Youth in Government programs, and we’re so glad you’ll be a part of them. It can’t be said enough: Teachers willing to go the extra mile for their students – and teachers actually willing to chaperone trips! – are truly heroes. Your students are lucky.

The Middle School Advisor Handbook is available online at our website www.scymcayig.org. We are following a YMCA of the USA paperwork reduction initiative, and will mail notebooks only upon request. The website is very easy to use.

There are few major changes this year. There is a small (less than 5%) fee increase, spread over the two different payments. As usual, we’re delighted to take individual student payments (collected and sent together by you) or school checks. We provide receipts upon request. Please note that students who receive a scholarship are still responsible for the $60 Dues, as well as $50 towards the Hotel/Meals fee.

The conference dates this year have moved. The dates are Thursday, November 19 through Saturday, November 21. This is the week BEFORE Thanksgiving, rather than the week after Thanksgiving, which is when the conference has been in previous years. These earlier dates allow us better access to hotel rooms, work better for our college staff, and help with schools that have exams before Christmas. This also takes care of a conflict between the Middle School YIG conference and the Middle School Mock Trial state competition.

We have a new on-line bill submission program called YODA, and this year all bills will be submitted through that program. It is a very user-friendly program, and we’ll be hosting several conference calls to walk you through the program.

I would LOVE to come visit your school! It’s one of the highlights of my job. I am available to come early in the year to do an informational/recruiting meeting; later for a bill brainstorming session; later still for a parliamentary procedure session; and even later still for a parents meeting. Just contact me and we’ll set it up.

If you know of any schools interested in starting Youth in Government programs, please let me know. We’re offering a $500 bonus to any school that helps recruit a new school. This includes new middle schools. In order to qualify for the bonus, the new school must bring a minimum of 10 students to the conference this year. Just contact me with a name and I’ll take it from there, and will let you know if it works out. You can take the bonus off the Hotel/Meals Fee owed by your school.

Our website is www.scymcayig.org. Most of the forms and paperwork are available for downloading on this site. There is also a chat room for students to use, as well as links to interesting and helpful sites.

This is going to be an exciting year! We’ve got a great staff of volunteers who can’t wait to start working. And if you have any recent high school YIG graduates who may be interested in serving on Resource Staff, please forward their names to me.

Finally, if there has been any change in the status of your Youth in Government program – new advisors, etc. – please let me know so we can change our contact information.

I look forward to seeing everyone soon!

Sincerely,

Mary Capers Bledsoe

Executive Director

SC YMCA Youth in Government

To download the full 2009 Middle School YIG Advisor Handbook Click the button below!