BIG WEEKEND FOR MYIG DELEGATES

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April 8, 2025

For information on admission to Notre Dame Prep, please click here.

Event editor-in-chief Erin Delaney NDP’25 recounts YMCA Michigan Youth in Government Late Conference at which NDP’s delegation achieves numerous honors and accolades. 

Forty-seven delegates from Notre Dame Prep traveled to Lansing last weekend to participate in the YMCA Michigan Youth in Government Late Conference, an annual event held in the spring that provides high school students from Michigan an opportunity to simulate all phases and positions of the actual state government. NDP senior Erin Delaney, one of the school delegates, was selected to serve as the conference press corps' editor-in-chief. She provided the following account of the long weekend of activities that included many high marks for NDP students. 

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By Erin Delaney NDP’25

This year, Notre Dame Prep brought the largest delegation of any other school to the YMCA Michigan Youth in Government Late Conference. NDP traveled with 22 legislative delegates, 10 National Issues Forum (NIF) delegates, 10 delegates participating in a total of two Model Judiciary Program (MJP) teams, three members of the press corps, one lobbyist and one member of the governor’s cabinet.

NDP also held three out of the 10 presiding officer (PO) positions this year, which is a very rare accomplishment. Violet Dedivanaj NDP’25 and Kevin Carter NDP’26 were elected (during the 2024 conference) to serve as 2025 lieutenant governor and speaker of the house, respectively. Additionally, Erin Delaney (NDP’25) was selected to serve as editor-in-chief of the press corps for the 2025 conference.

Aside from the PO positions, three NDP delegates served as legislative committee chairs, one NDP delegate served as a National Issues Forum chair, and one delegate was selected to serve on the governor’s cabinet.

Notre Dame Prep’s MJP team 101, consisting of seniors Matthew Kafarski, Erin Surmann, Valentina Sedano and Geralyn Nguyen, along with junior Caroline Powell, made it to the finals and became the Mock Trial state champions for the second year in a row.

The delegation had six bills signed into legislation by the youth governor and three proposals passed.

The NDP delegation left Lansing on Sunday with four awards and one continuing presiding officer position. Surmann received the 2025 MJP best prosecuting attorney award, Emma Shorter NDP’27 was named the 2025 NIF outstanding delegate, Antonella Kaminskas (NDP’27) earned the 2025 NIF outstanding proposal and Anna Kafarski NDP’27 was named the 2025 rising press star. In addition to the four awards brought home on Sunday, Carter was reelected to serve again as speaker of the house for the 2026 Late Conference. Freshman Adrianna Khami also earned the title of “best lobbyist firm.”

Delaney was selected to attend the 2025 Conference on National Affairs, representing Michigan in the National Youth in Government press corps, Carter and Shorter were selected as alternate legislative delegates. Only 14 out of more than 500 delegates are selected to attend the national conference each year, and only ten alternates are chosen per year.

Planning

Planning for Spring Conference begins every year at the delegation leaders retreat (DLR) in which all POs must attend and each delegation can send up to two representatives. The retreat takes place at a YMCA camp in Traverse City typically in August of each year. Notre Dame Prep sent a total of five delegates last August, including the three POs mentioned above and Brooklyn Haddad NDP’25 and Caroline Powell NDP’26.

During the long weekend, delegation leaders (aka the “president” from each school) learn how to properly run the program at their school while presiding officers begin to plan their respective programs. The DLR is then followed by fall conference which is a one-day event where delegations, divided up by districts throughout the state, come together to learn about different program areas and hold primary elections for youth governor, secretary of state, and certain legislative roles.

After the fall conference, participants choose what program they would like to attend that year and get to work. Students usually begin the bill/proposal writing process in early November and wrap it up around February. The MJP teams start preparation in December, meeting once a week until March where they meet multiple times a week after school preparing for that year’s trial. Press delegates create three newsletters throughout the year in order to gain some interview/reporting experience prior to conference.

A reporter’s personal take

One of my favorite parts of the MYIG program is how it is completely student run. As a presiding officer serving as editor-in-chief of the press corps this year, it was like I was running my own newspaper for an entire four days. I joined the NDP Michigan Youth in Government program as a freshman and did the legislative program until I joined the press corps my sophomore year where I was then named copy editor as a junior and editor-in-chief as a senior.

After spending some time reflecting on my Michigan Youth in Government experience over the last four years, I’m sad that it is over, but I’m so excited about what’s to come. Next year, I will be attending either George Washington University in Washington, D.C., or Michigan State University, and I plan to double major in political science and economics with a minor in journalism.

Participating in MYIG the last four years has prepared me extremely well for my future career and has instilled confidence in my leadership skills that I truly believe is not attainable through any other program.

For information on admission to Notre Dame Prep, please click here.

Comments or questions? mkelly@ndpma.org

About Notre Dame Preparatory School
"At Notre Dame Prep, we inspire our students to become the best versions of themselves. We challenge them through an experience of academic excellence, focused on active, project-based learning. We invite them to explore a world of opportunities beyond the classroom. We guide them as they grow in spirituality within a community strong in its Catholic and Marist identity."

Notre Dame Preparatory School is a private, Catholic, independent, coeducational day school located in Oakland County. Notre Dame Preparatory School's upper school enrolls students in grades nine through twelve and has been named one of the nation's best 50 Catholic high schools (Acton Institute) four times since 2005. Notre Dame Prep's middle and lower schools enroll students in pre-kindergarten through grade eight. All three schools are International Baccalaureate "World Schools." NDP is conducted by the Marist Fathers and Brothers and is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States and the National Association of Independent Schools. For more on Notre Dame Preparatory School, visit the school’s home page at www.ndpma.org.