August 10, 2009

Dear YIG New School Advisor:

I am delighted that you have agreed to sponsor a YMCA Youth in Government program at your school this year. The South Carolina Youth in Government program is one of 45 such programs nationally, and is one of the five largest. We’re also one of just four programs to have received the Premier Program designation for 10 years in a row. I promise this will be an outstanding hands-on learning experience for your students, and I thank you for making it possible for them.

The New 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. You’ll find everything you need – including a checklist and timeline – under the New School tab on the website.

A few things to know as a new school:

1.    We are here to make this as easy for you as possible. Please do not hesitate to contact our office if you’ve got questions, if you run into problems meeting deadlines, or if there is anything we can do to make this work for you.
2.    To that end, we offer new schools a simplified and streamlined timetable to prepare your students for participation. While there are many different roles students can select from at the YIG conference, we limit new schools to the legislative role only. Your students will serve as either Premier Senators or Representatives (all of your underclassmen) or Upper Chamber Senators or Representatives (your seniors). Your students will work in legislative pairs, with each pair writing a bill.
3.    New schools receive a significant price reduction for their first year. Your students are each responsible for the $65 dues and the $185 Hotel/Meals fees. They do not have to pay the $165 Conference Fees during your first year. Scholarships are limited because of the price reduction, but we can work with students on an individual basis if a family is unable to pay the full amount.

The dates of the conference are Wednesday, November 18 through Saturday, November 21. Conference registration and check-in begins at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, and continues through 7 p.m. Most delegations do not miss school on Wednesday, but leave immediately at the end of the school day on Wednesday. The conference wraps up at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday.

I would love to come visit your school! This is one of the highlights of my job in the fall, so please let me know if I can come help you in any way. I can do recruiting visits to help you drum up interest in YIG, or I can come for a general information session, or I can come to a parent meeting, or anything else you might need me for.

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.

I look forward to seeing everyone soon!

Sincerely,

Mary Capers Bledsoe

Executive Director

SC YMCA Youth in Government

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

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