Floor seven counselor profiles

Story By: Melissa Hinrichs

Michelle Malone

Michelle Malone is the Senior Counselor for floor seven and has been helping with Girls State for nine years. She has spent seven of those years as a counselor. Malone is from Palmyra and is now living in Omaha. In 2004 she was a citizen at Cornhusker Girls State and was a candidate for County Sheriff, but was not elected to the position.

Malone loves coming to Girls State and working with the citizens. That and the leadership skills learned at Girls State are the reasons she says she chose to become a counselor. Malone identified her favorite part of attending Girls State as being the time she would spend staying up at night talking to the friends she had made.

Malone’s favorite color is most definitely pink. She also enjoys watching football, but she no longer plays many sports. Malone believes that she would most enjoy the superpower of flight, because she likes to travel.

Helen King

Helen King is the Middle Counselor for floor seven and this is her second year as a counselor. King is originally from Shelby and now lives in Kearney. She attended Cornhusker Girls State in 2012 and was elected to City Mayor during her time as a citizen.

King says her reason for wanting to become a counselor here at Girls State is because of how much she enjoyed herself during her time as a citizen. She continued to explain that she wanted to give other citizens the same exciting experiences she had had at this event. King’s favorite part of Girls State as a citizen was one of the speakers she saw. This speaker was Dr. Jo, and King described her presentation as full of energy and motivation.

When King was asked about her favorite color her reply was a definitive, “Pink!” Her favorite activity is crafting and she can be seen wearing some of the things she makes. When asked what superhero would she like to be or what superpower would she want to have,  King’s answer was that she does not know any superheroes, but she would like the power of teleportation. She explained that if she could teleport, she would never have to worry about being late and would not have to run to be on time.

Nicole Shively

Nicole Shively is the Junior Counselor for floor seven and this is her first time being a Girls State counselor. Shively is from Lincoln and attended Cornhusker Girls State in 2013 when she ran for and was elected to a Senator position.

The experiences Shively had during her time at Girls State is one reason why she decided to be a counselor. She also said that Girls State is a great learning experience. Shively’s favorite part of her time as a Girls State citizen was getting to meet people from all over the state; she grew up in Lincoln and had not had the chance to meet many people from other places before.

Shively considers blue to be her favorite color. She is currently studying music, and her favorite activity is marching band. If Shively could have any superpower, she would choose to be able to fly, because she could go anywhere. She also explained that it “would just feel cool.”

Mike Smith visits Boys and Girls State

By: Haley Pierce

Girls State and Boys State delegates gathered at 7:00 p.m. in Kimball Recital Hall on Monday. While there, the citizens listened to professional teenager/motivational speaker Mike Smith. During his presentation, Smith documented his change from a self-centered kid to the champion of helping others.

“Honestly, son, your father and I aren’t very proud of you.” These words would strike anybody with pain; but for Smith, his mother’s comment sparked a personal revolution. Smith grew up in  Rapid City, South Dakota. His family did not come from money, and Smith’s father worked hard to create a life for the family. As a fourth grader, Smith became infatuated with Tony Hawk and all things skateboarding. At that time, Smith considered himself a misfit, and the skatepark became a place where he belonged. However, his father was offered a good job in Imperial, and it was announced that the family would be moving to Nebraska before Smith’s eighth grade year.

On the first day of school, Smith entered the classroom with long, shaggy purple hair; and he struggled to find friends. In a small town where sports were everything, Smith struggled to compete. For his eighth grade and freshman year, he existed only as a ghost. Suddenly, Smith grew. As a sophomore, the city kid hung up his skateboard and became a starting three-sport athlete. His junior year continued the same; and as a senior, he was among the most popular kids in school.

Sadly, Smith’s father became ill with cancer, and Smith’s only goal was to make his dad proud. He scribbled, “You’re gonna make it,” across his bedroom ceiling and became resolved to play college basketball. Smith started working diligently in the gym and the classroom, although three years of slacking were hard to overcome. One day, Smith found a freshman, Calvin, sitting by himself at 6:00 a.m.. Smith learned Calvin did this every day, and he decided to be Calvin’s friend. However, Calvin did not necessarily want to be Smith’s friend, and he repeatedly declined Smith’s invitations. Not knowing what to do, Smith asked his mother why Calvin wouldn’t be his friend. Then came the fated words, “Honestly, son, your father and I aren’t very proud of you.” The following day, Smith apologized to everyone in his school for being “too cool to talk to you.” These sincere apologies persuaded Calvin to accept Smith. From then on, Smith and Calvin were inseparable. On one occasion, Smith helped the entire school purchase Christmas gifts for Calvin.

The time came for Smith to attend college and play basketball. The first day of practice, Smith’s coach asked him what he wanted to do with his life, and Smith’s reply was that he just wanted to help people. Smith’s coach drove him to a bridge where Smith was introduced to many homeless people. After speaking with these people, Smith went to the equipment room and grabbed pairs of socks for all of the homeless. He then started a food donation program in his college cafeteria. From then on, Smith has been a champion of the silent and broken. He currently is the CEO of the non-profit Skate for Change. The organization, which numbers over 80 chapters and over 10,000 members, helps provide for the homeless and hungry. The majority of Smith’s volunteers are teenagers armed with skateboards, backpacks and tube socks.

By the end of his story, most audience members were deeply moved, and many wanted to know what they could do to help. Smith provided many suggestions, but his biggest advice was to be nice to others. Other ideas are available on his website mikesmithlive.com. And always remember, “What is your legacy?”

Floor two sketch

Story by Dharma Blake-Cole

The citizens in the town of Adams on floor two is a laid back yet energetic group of young ladies. They are very appreciative of the opportunities and learning experiences ALA Cornhusker Girls State has to offer. 

The town of Adams started off getting to know each other in the week before Girls State in a floor wide group chat on Facebook. Those first few days of getting to know each other has allowed for strong relationships to develop among the girls. They have all become one giant family.

Senior Counselor Debi Johnson, Middle Counselor Shirley Gautreaux and Junior Counselor Kathryn Budell have created a fun and open relationship between all the girls on floor two. They are supportive and offer great advice when needed.

Floor two of Girls State has many interesting girls, most of which are sticker crazy. A vast majority of campaign posters are covered in stickers including Hannah Montana stickers, Minion stickers and of course Spongebob stickers.

One of the many things the girls in the Adams family bonded over is their love for Spongebob. They had countless conversations about Spongebob in the group chat and girls were even trading Spongebob stickers in the hallway the first night they arrived to Girls State.

The Adams family on floor two has started friendships that could last a lifetime and continue to learn things about themselves and each other every single day of Girls State.

Citizens who are heard: fourth floor profile

Many floors have been silent until they interacted with one another, like talking to their roommate or at their first town meeting. Floor Four of Clinton had no trouble at all. If one roommate arrived without the other the first would wait for them and greet them with big smiles. Delegates congregated in the lobby after everyone had unpacked. It started out with simple questions such as 'What’s your name?', 'Where are you from?' and 'What room are you?' These may seem like simple questions, but it did not stop there. Conversations delved into each others lives immediately. Citizens learned about all the members on their floor. Clinton is just one big, happy family and love to be heard cheering and laughing--whether or not the time is right.

The first round of whistle stop campaigns was a success on fourth floor. All city office candidates went door-to-door to state why they should be elected to the office of their choice. The citizens asked many questions and were ready and poised on their beds, waiting for the candidates. A frequently asked question was “What will you do for our community?”. Many of the delegates were indecisive, but after given time to think many said that they would offer help to their all unfortunate citizens and community improvements such as beautifying and community service. 

The citizens also used may different strategies when campaigning. Faith Johnson had a different look on her campaign strategies; she was on the run and stopped by each citizen’s room at least three times. Julie Schinder used the strategy of constant reminders. She put all kinds of reminders around the floor, from sticking signs on all the doors to putting large signs on walls surrounded by tiny signs with her name plastered all over them. Faith Johnson won the Mayor position and Julie Schinder won a spot on the city council.

Floor Four are the citizens to be heard. The delegates who ran for city offices were very well prepared,  even though they were short on time.

By: Sydney Boden

Federalists elect leaders, affirm platform

When it comes to knowing what to do with what you have, Cornhusker Girls State Federalists understand how to make the best of any situation. This was proven true by the 2014 Federalist motto: We didn’t choose the Fed life, the Fed life chose us. In accordance with the motto, seven Girls State delegates were voted by their Federalist peers into office.

    Led by Federalist advisor and temporary chairperson Heidi Kaschke, the Federalist delegates opened the convention in the Union Ballroom and elected their fellow Federalist officials. Bethany Vinton of Brown-Park County represented the fifth floor and the city of Clinton by being named Federalist State Chairperson. 

Vinton said she qualified for the position of state chairperson because she is currently the president of the parliamentary procedure group at her high school and has served in various positions. Under the direction of Vinton, the elections and volunteerings of vice chairperson, secretary-treasurer and platform committee followed.

    The convention continued by discussing a myriad of platforms. Delegates spoke passionately about their beliefs and decided on affirming three platforms: lowering the majority age to 18, allowing teachers to have conceal and carry licenses and ballistics in school and requiring high schools to allow driver’s education as an elective class.

    Other platforms discussed, but not approved, were the legalization of recreational and medicinal marijuana and the repeal of the government’s power to seize private land for corporal use by means of eminent domain.

    Debates concluded with the presentation of the Federalist emblem. The emblem consisted of Rosie the Riveter rendition with stars and the Federalist motto surrounding her. The thirteen Federalist candidates then for governor introduced themselves to their party, giving their name, hometown, Girls State city and the convention was called to adjourn. 

By: Allegra Hardin

Face Off: Senate candidates debate

   

Girls State and Boys State had a joint session at 8:00 pm at the Kimball Recital Hall on Monday, where delegates watched a debate between two Nebraskans who are running for the Senate. The Republican candidate is Ben Sasse and the Democrat candidate is Dave Domina. 

Both candidates participated in Boys State when they were in high school. Both say the promises they make will be what they want to accomplish and they will fulfill all promises and not just let them be empty.

Sasse believes we need to leave the country the same way we received it. Sasse said we can accomplish this through hard work and we can achieve anything we are set out to do.

Domina has been a major influence over the people in our state. He helped with many issues and wrote many new bills that have helped Nebraska. Domina wants to push back cooperative laws to help Nebraskans and build together.

The two delegates gave their views to questions posed by Boys and Girls State delegates. The topics encompassed a broad set of ideas. Both candidates answered seven questions in total.

One question asked about the lack of privacy for security needs. Domina was very against drones and the NSA. He brought up the fourth amendment, which prohibits unreasonable searches by the government. Domina said that we elect the people we want to represent us. Sasse was not as opposed to the lack of privacy because in his opinion there are a lot of bad guys out in the world. The government's job is to protect us, but they need to have a real reason to be going through our private information.

The next hot button issue was the legalization of same-sex marriage and marijuana. Sasse and Domina said these matters should be dealt with at a local or state level. Sasse's thoughts on same-sex marriage were based on the definition of marriage by the state and what will be best for the children. Sasse firmly believes the matter of marijuana is to be dealt at the state level. Domina stated the definition of marriage and children are raised just as well in homes with two parents of any orientation or single parents as they are with two parents of opposite sex. Domina says that the government needs to fix the glitch in the law concerning marijuana.

The final issue focused on military action that the government is taking. Domina stated we need to follow the seven principles of war. The government needs to weigh the outcome for success and the outcome for defeat. Domina said we need to honor treaties we have agreed to. Sasse said the government needs to protect its citizens from major threats. Sasse said that the United States needs to be very cautious of who we give our word to, but if we give our word that we will stand by our word.

By: Vanessa Knutson

New mayor of Jefferson mediates problems

It was initially about ‘getting to know the girls’ for recently elected Jefferson mayor Ria Pedersen. Pedersen knew before arriving on the seventh floor town she would not pursue a position at the county or state level.

“I knew that I wanted to stay on the city level so that way I could get to know the girls a lot better on a personal level,” Pedersen said.

Pedersen’s reasoning was only exemplified in the way she campaigned. Instead of throwing candy in other citizens’ faces she had one-on-one talks, explained why she was running and made sure she answered any questions to make a good impression and then “go from there.”

“[I told them]…‘this is me—this is what I’m running for,’” she said.

Although, her hope to know her fellow citizens was a justifiable reason to apply for mayor everything was not smooth sailing. Two other girls applied for the position as well so the competition among the girls could have been anyone’s win for the taking.

Despite this, Pedersen kept her confidence level up.  She remembered she was involved in numerous activities at her high school which required leadership roles. Pedersen knew she could run meetings and was comfortable in doing the campaign.

“I’ve always been a bubbly, outgoing type of person,” said Pedersen. The difference to her, however, did come with how fast the process moved.

“It was—get on the floor, decide what to do, decide what you want to do. It was fast and furious, but at the same time really fun.”

After winning the campaign, Pedersen had to deal with the first issue for the city the night after being appointed.

For the exercise, a pond was filling with sediment and multiple solutions were presented. To resolve the problem Pedersen amended one of the proposed solutions.

“I thought it went pretty well,” said Pedersen. “It was a new experience for all of us.”

For the future, Pedersen talked about continuing to solve problems in an effective way and mediate between people.

More importantly Pedersen learned to use Parliamentary procedure to run meetings and to ‘get out there’ from the election

The campaign’s impact has reached beyond Cornhusker Girls State and influenced Pedersen to pursue politics.

“I’m still intimidated by big things,” she said laughing. But she said she could definitely see herself running for something like school board or county commissioner.   

Story by Jordan Young

Monday, June 2: CGS Day Two

They moved in, got acquainted and only slept an average of three hours. Cornhusker Girls State has officially began. The morning started with voting for city officials. The night prior, delegates campaigning for city offices went door-to-door talking to other citizens.

After city official ballots were in and counted other delegates went to file for county and state offices like governor and county assessor.

After filing was completed, campaigning could begin. But before campaigns started the delegates had to break into their party affiliations for party platform meetings.

Monday was the first joint session with the male citizens of Cornhusker Boys State. Renowned public speaker Aaron Davis spoke to the delegates about the qualities of a leader and his experiences. Senate candidates Ben Sasse and Dave Domina also educated the delegates on topics that concern Nebraska and the nation.

Monday also began the first round of rapid fire campaigns. The delegates used all sorts of methods from candy to rocks to get their messages across.

And the winners are: City election results

Complete listing of all the titles and title holders voted in for city offices Monday, June 2, 2014.

City of Reagan

MAYOR: Raelyn Haubensak

CITY COUNCIL: Natalie Brodersen, Bailey Craig, Emily Locke, Lydia Nokels, Sara Trojan

SCHOOL BOARD: Madisyn Ayres, Mckenz Gorecki, Hannah King, Laura Peters

SENATORS: Jordan Burgener, Pamela Felix, Blair Hofstetter, Allison Johnson, Taylor Mclaughlin, Maekayla Ward

City of Bush

MAYOR: Isabel Safarik

CITY COUNCIL: Brenna Backemeyer, Hanna Hake, Samantha Husband, Kjia A. Meduna. Sheridan Wellnitz

SCHOOL BOARD: Madi Casper, Meri Hietbrink, Rebecca Still, Abby Walter

SENATORS: Madisen Clevenger, Jessica Moss, Kristin Rice, Naomi K. Schaub, Kaitlyn Stuhr, Nyla Witzel

City of Clinton

MAYOR: Faith Johnson

CITY COUNCIL: Jana Finke, Kennedy Garner, Shelby Hinrichs, Abbie Sanders, Julie Schindler

SCHOOL BOARD: Cassidy Chapman, Sadie Petersen, Lindsey Trotter, Emily Wells

SENATORS: Payton Baier, Justine Bauer, Rebekah Birch, Caylynn Cruse, Makaela Franzen, Jenna Widick

City of Washington

MAYOR: Molly Schiermeyer

CITY COUNCIL: Anna Hubbard, Hannah Price, Jordan Reeves, Jacklyn Sonnenfeld, Jerrica Tietz

SCHOOL BOARD: Lauren Bengston, Ashley Shaffer, Peyton Skiles, Abby Werkmeister

SENATORS: Madison Fitzgibbons, Christina Hamling, Reilly Jankins, Bekah Turnbull, Lindsay Weber, Michelle Xiao

City of Adams

MAYOR: Lauren Sprinkle

CITY COUNCIL: Rachael Cole, Amelia Hunt, Jenna Podany, Channah Schager, Hayley Wagner

SCHOOL BOARD: Ktherine Baker, Brittany Hanzlik, Jessa Johnston, Nicole Yablonski

SENATORS: Megan Canfield, Samantha Due, Baliey Graff, Jaysa Hoins, Whitney Ronso, Melanie Slama

City of Jefferson

MAYOR: Ria Pedersen

CITY COUNCIL: Sydney Dunn. Michaela Flick, Emily B. Houtby, Coutney Schellpeper, Rebecca Williams

SCHOOL BOARD: Sarah Book, Jennifer Knopik, Letishia Lindhorst, Mariah Miller

SENATORS: Kelsy Gansebom, Jenna Purdy, Ascha Schumm, Jessica Shonka, Kaitlin Strong, Brooklyn Westenburg

City of Madison

MAYOR: Baylee Barcel

CITY COUNCIL: Anna Flairty, Rebekah Hutchinson, Hannah Shimmel, Cassidy Walla, Tasha Ward

SCHOOL BOARD: Brianna Barker, Macenzie Christensen, Madison Johnson, Ashton Lindsay

SENATORS: Taylor Guest, Kendra Hoffert, Citlali Pena, Shantelle Roy, Mikayala Scafer, Cacey Vavra

City of Monroe

MAYOR: Madison Schlake

CITY COUNCIL: Sydney Glatter, Elsie Hermsmeier, Emma Loberg, Ashley Starr, Emilie Wilson

SCHOOL BOARD: Mackenzie Gydesen, Halee Keller, Malinda Short, Nicki Stolzer

SENATORS: Larissa Attema, Nicole Beed, Elisabeth Cope. Katie Ruth, Rachel Shackelford, Lauren White, Morgan Zabel