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.

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.

Strong majority: floor two profile

 The city of Reagan has been in full swing since the new citizens of 2014 Cornhusker Girls State arrived. Monday floor two citizens were faced with their first town problem. The challenge Reagan faced together as a town dealt with the run-down, historic courthouse in Valentine and making it handicap accessible. Many ideas were tossed around and discussed among the group and by working together delegates found the best solution for Valentine's needs. 

 

            Tuesday in the Union ballroom, results were announced for county, non-partisan and state primary election. Citizens of Reagan were in full force, representing Brown-Park County. Thirteen delegates proudly represented floor two in county, non-partisan and state positions in the general election. Nine of those 13 girls won the general election Wednesday and proudly took their positions in state and county government. 

Sadie Vargas, a resident of Reagan, said, “Honestly I wasn’t surprised because we have great and outgoing girls on our floor with a huge support system behind them.” 

By: Claire Moore