• YMCA Youth and Government Program
    Youth and Government Program-Sumner Delegation: (Click here to find out more!)
     

    Congratulations to Romell Calhoun for being selected for a Chamber Chair role at the 2024 Gateway Region Y Youth and Government Local Conference. His role on the student leadership team is to preside over chamber proceedings, ensuring order, and guiding fellow council members as they draft and debate ordinances.

     

    Congratulations to Asean Dodson and Dakota Scott for being recognized as the top 6 ordinances at the 2024 Gateway Region Y Youth and Government Local Conference.

     

    Congratulations to Rondre Phillips, Romell Calhoun, Rymiah Henson, Kaley Bryant-Vaughn, and Karmyn Griffith for making it to the final rounds and for being recognized as the top 3 ordinances at the 2024 Gateway Region Y Youth and Government Local Conference.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Congratulations goes out to Delegate Dakota Scott for being nominated and selected as the 2024 Most Outstanding Statesperson. This is an award given to highlight a Youth and Government delegate who demonstrates the ability to make well-informed arguments and speeches of affirmation and opposition and who also poses well-researched, high-level questions during legislative debates. 

     
    Congratulations to Elyse Rukundo for his success at the 2024 State Convention. He was a Nominee for Most Outstanding Bill. He was also nominated for Governor’s Legislation Choice Award as one of the MO-YAG Governor’s favorite bill. His bill was “To require all publicly funded schools in the State of Missouri to undergo a threat assessment and create an active shooter school safety plan to be submitted annually to the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE).”
     
     
    Congratulations to Rymiah Henson and Dakota Scott for being recognized as Missouri Youth and Government's 2024 Top 5 Bills (Ranked #1). Their bill was "To allow the legal fostering and adoption of felines (who are scheduled to be euthanized) by prisoners in low-security state prisons in Missouri." 
     
    Congratulations to the following delegates for being recognized at the 2024-2025 Youth and Government State Convention:
    • Most Outstanding Statesperson: Dakota Scott
    • Runner Up for Most Outstanding Statesperson: Romell Calhoun, Tre’Sean Smith, and Rondre Phillips
    • Governor’s Legislation Choice Award: Elyse Rukundo
    • Runner Up for Most Outstanding Bill: Elyse Rukundo
    • Missouri Youth and Government’s Top Five Bills: Rymiah Henson and Dakota Scott (Ranked #1)

    Congratulations to delegate Romell Calhoun for being selected to represent the St. Louis area for advocacy day in Jefferson City on March 6th! Romell will join other students from across the region and will be meeting with our state legislators to advocate for important issues. Romell Calhoun was also awarded the Most Outstanding Statesperson Award at the 2023 YMCA Missouri Youth and Government State Conference. This is an award given to highlight a Youth and Government delegate who demonstrates the ability to make well-informed arguments and speeches of affirmation and opposition and who also poses well-researched, high-level questions during legislative debates. Romell was only three out of 375 students selected for this award.

     
        
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Sumner Alumni and 2023 graduate Calvin Carson was invited to the Gateway Region YMCA MLK Commemorative Breakfast on January 15th as one of the Keynote Speakers. He delivered an MLK speech and shared an oral history about Martin Luther King. Calvin served in the Sumner Youth and Government program from 2021-2023 and was selected for Most Outstanding Bill at the State Convention in 2022. He was also nominated for the YMCA Gateway Region Youth of the Year in 2023 and was selected as the Conference Life Committee Representative for the Conference on National Affairs representing the State of Missouri for Youth and Government at the National Youth and Government Convention in North Carolina in 2023.
     
     
    Calvin currently attends St. Louis Community College-Forest Park and is the Community Director of the Student Government Association (SGA) for the STLCC-Forest Park. In that role, he serves as the Director of Communications, Public Relations, and Assessment for the Forest Park Campus SGA as well as President of the Campus Activities Board. He is also one of the College Reporters for the SGA, and he is the Secretary of the Poetry Club. He is majoring in General Transfer studies and has plans to obtain his Bachelors and eventual Masters in Communications and looks forward to working in Trust and Safety.
     
     
     
     Congratulations to Calvin Carson for being nominated and selected for the 2023 YMCA Gateway Region Youth of the Year. The Joseph P. Sunnen Youth of the Year Award for Leadership salutes young people who exemplify all that the Y stands for--opportunity, potential, leadership, and service to the community. 
     
     
    Congratulations goes out to Calvin Carson for being selected for the Conference on National Affairs (CONA) representing the State of Missouri for Youth and Government at the 2023 National Youth and Government Convention in North Carolina.
     
     
     
    Congratulations to Delegate Calvin Carson for being selected for Most Outstanding Bill at the 2022 Missouri Youth and Government State Convention. His bill was "To require certification of all government candidates, including elected and non-elected officials, by passing a civil service examination in order to run and be elected to office."