Meet the floor two counselors

By Haley Ehrke

The Senior Counselor for the city of Adams is Debi Smith. Smith’s hometown is Elsie and she is a Girls State Alumni. She served as a City Council member during her time at Girls State in 2007. Smith serves as a counselor because she wanted to give back after her experience. Her favorite part of Girls State is meeting girls and seeing the citizens’ creativity during the whistle stop campaigns. Debi works as the Assistant Women’s Basketball Coach at Concordia University. Her favorite color is light blue and her favorite movie is “Indiana Jones: The Last Crusade”. Her favorite actor is Emma Stone, and her favorite food is Macaroni and Cheese. Her favorite United States President is George H. W. Bush. A piece of advice that Smith wanted to give to the citizens is for them to be themselves.

Adam’s Middle Counselor Shirley Gautreaux is from Friend Nebraska and she is not a Girls State alumni. Gautreaux became involved at Girls State because of Diane Hanke, a member of her church. Hanke got Gautreaux involved in 2002 when her third son was attending Cornhusker Boys State. Shirley has served as a counselor ever since. Gautreaux taught school for 40 years and is now enjoying retirement by visiting her grandkids. Gautreaux’s favorite color is blue and her favorite movie is “The Sound of Music”. Her favorite actor is George Clooney, and favorite food is Lasagna. Gautreaux admires United States President Abraham Lincoln. Gautreaux wanted to make sure that the delegates step out of their comfort zones to meet others and make themselves better people.

Finally, the Junior Counselor Kathryn “Kat” Budell. Budell’s hometown is Lincoln and she is a Girls State alumni and served as the State Auditor in 2013. Budell became a counselor because she really enjoyed her experience at Girls State as a delegate and wanted to share her experience. She works as a service assistant at State Parks and Recreation. Her favorite color is green and her favorite movie is “Silver Linings Playbook”. Kat’s favorite actor is Benedict Cumberbatch and her favorite food is any kind fruit. Budell loves United States President Harry Truman, and the advice that she wants to give to the girls is to learn more about themselves through meeting others.

“The farthest west I had been prior to my experience at Girls State was Kearney. Throughout my time at Girls State I was able to meet girls from the panhandle that lived closer to Denver than they did Lincoln. I then knew I wanted to give back from my experience,” said Budell.