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BREADCRUMB

NOTRE DAME PREP STUDENT REPRESENTS AT GIRLS STATE

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July 10, 2024

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

Erin Delaney NDP'25 excels at annual state leadership program for high school girls sponsored by the American Legion Auxiliary.

Notre Dame Prep rising senior Erin Delaney earned a citizenship award at this year's ALA Girls State program.


The American Legion Auxiliary Girls State program is a nationwide initiative by the American Legion Auxiliary for high school girls who learn about the political process by electing officials for all levels of state government and actively running a mock government. Participants are assigned to mock cities and either the “Federalist Party” or “Nationalist Party.”

For rising senior Erin Delaney, the ALA Girls State program, which this year ran from June 23 through June 29 at Michigan State University, was another opportunity to sharpen her community-service and problem-solving skills she's earned at NDP.

"As I continue to live out our school mission, even in the summer, it was another opportunity to fully embrace every aspect of the mission, academically learning how to better serve others in my community as I prepare for what lies ahead after my Notre Dame career comes to an end next spring," she said. "I also was able to live and eat at Shaw Hall on the MSU campus the entire week, which gave me a great perspective into what college life will be like."

The ALA Girls State program is an annual week-long competition run by the American Legion Auxiliary both in the chapter in Michigan and others across the country. It's an experiment in how a demographic not represented in our current government might build up an infrastructure that could run a country, which gives young women the opportunity to test the waters in nation-building.

Program facilitators say assistance from ALA volunteers ensures the program’s nonpartisan governmental, patriotic and civic objectives are carried out through interactive learning.

Delaney, who came to NDP from Holy Family Regional School in Rochester Hills, gives the invocation at Girls State on the steps of the Michigan capitol in Lansing.


And according to those who've gone through the program, it's one of the best experiences ever — imparting lessons for all who took part, including Delaney. 

"While in attendance at the Girls State, 'citizens' like myself are put into a real-world simulation of our country’s government, with a special focus on the state and local levels," she said. "We are split into two political parties that curate each party’s platform."

She said that participants were learning while doing.

"The first four days are focused on local city/county governments, where we elect members of city council, a city mayor, county commissioners and a county board chair. There are six cities, each with about twenty girl, and three counties with two cities each."

Delaney was elected to city council the first night, after which she began a campaign to become mayor of Jackson, her adopted city. She was then elected mayor.

"As the newly elected mayor, it was my job to run each city council meeting efficiently, creating a list of our top priorities, while also taking in the opinions of my fellow citizens," she said. 

"Throughout this entire process, I was being taught how to handle different situations and how to think outside of the box. For example, our county board had to write a letter to the Girls State 'president' regarding an issue on the Canadian border. We were also taught how to write city resolutions, as well as ordinances and grant applications."

Delaney also said that her city council was able to write three grant applications and solve about six of the issues the city was facing. Typically, most cities are only able to solve two to three issues at most. 

Delaney and other participants at the ALA Girls State stayed at Shaw Hall on the campus of MSU.


During a trip to the state Capital with the group, she also gave the invocation on the Capital steps for the state board induction ceremony and earned the 'Best Citizen' award for the program.

Looking back at her experience in Lansing, Delaney said she truly believes her time spent so far at NDP gave her a head start at the ALA Girls State.

"Overall, the opportunities presented to me at NDP gave me a leg up heading into the program," she said. "As a four-year StuCo member, I was able to sharpen both my leadership skills," she said. 

Additionally, she said, her NDP experience helped prepare her to take on the upcoming role as a member of the Michigan Youth in Government (MYIG) state board next year and to serve as state editor in chief.

"It also will help me learn how to properly manage a group of fellow leaders and to ensure everyone’s voice is heard as well as to brush up on my parliamentary procedure skills, which will come in handy my senior year on NDP's Model United Nations team."

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.ndprep.org.