Hey, I’m here at Girls Nation and every year you think that it can’t get any better –however it really does. The Girls are phenomenal – my City “Foggy Bottom” is above and beyond. We cherish our community meetings every night. We are just into Senate sessions and they are always exciting.

Mary Williams

From Sunday Night

So far…wow! My community of Spring Valley is amazing and uplifting. All the girls here are listeners and talkers. I’m beginning to break out of my shell and get to know all the unfamiliar girls…and I suppose that must be the hardest part. Before I got here, I was absolutely convinced everyone was mean and I’m happily proving myself wrong. And thus, I find myself at Sunday! It was far too hot at Arlington Ceremony (let’s not talk about the sweat dripping down everyone’s legs). Today we had tons of elections, speeches, and meetings and then all of it all over again. It seems to me that just about anybody has the ability to be whatever she wants to be. I myself am planning the Nationalist Convention.

This day and a half of being in this foreign place has convinced me that everyone has the potential to move far beyond what they thought themselves to be…even if she wasn’t elected as Chairwoman of such-and-such. This in itself is an awesome thing! I feel privileged and at the same time humbled. But the cool thing? I’m not the only one! Every girl here is going to leave a very special woman. We all know it and we all embrace every moment of it. At this moment we’re sitting here in our community meeting listening to each other. And though each girl is from a different state completely, we all sound like the same girl: hardship met by beautiful fortune. To anyone reading this, please know and understand that there is nothing in the world that could’ve prepared me for this amazing experience; therefore, there is nothing in the world quite like this week.

Devany
Dean of JCs

This morning’s Ecumenical Service at Arlington Cemetery Amphitheater brought many to listen when Girls Nation’s Senators joined together in song. The rendition of “Let There Be Peace on Earth” was clear and strong in the early morning serenity of the sacred grounds of our Nation’s fallen heroes. Without music and in perfect pitch, one would think that this group of young women had known each other more than 24 hours. This set the tone for the rest of the service, one that was worthy of the early hour departure and bus breakfast to open Arlington. Girl Nation Senators laid a beautiful wreath of veteran made poppys at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier during the changing of the guard. These young women were sworn in as Girls Nation Senators late yesterday evening, yet were up for the raising of our Nation’s flag at 6:45 this morning. Such is the caliber of the young women that are selected each year at their state Girls State program.

Maggie

Good Afternoon from Day 2 at Girls Nation

Our trip to Arlington was amazing and moving. Last night, during the opening, the girls inserted poppies into a beautiful wreath brought by Marie Geode from Minnesota. If you’ve seen the pictures you know what I mean. Four Senators were chosen to be in the honor guard to lay the wreath. What an honor!! It was sunny and hot but the girls didn’t seem to mind.

The Ecumenical Ceremony, put together by Suzanne Knapp from Michigan, was beautiful. Nine Senators shared their religious beliefs. We all sang Let there be Peace on Earth and This Land is Your Land. The choir sang Some Gave All, a special request by me. They did such a beautiful job, I again found myself crying. I’ve done that a few times already and it’s only Sunday.

When we got back to the 4H Center we had a presentation called “You Be the Judge” given by Judge Pierron from the Kansas Court of Appeals. He was engaging and incorporated a lot of participation by the Senators. The girls seemed to really like it.

After lunch the Senators learned about how senate sessions are conducted at Girls Nation and then split into their parties to elect their party leadership. Flag lowering is in 15 minutes, then dinner and senate continues this evening.
These are an amazing group of talented and enthused young women. I thank the Girls State programs for sending us such wonderful Senators. I wish you can all see them in action – but the next best thing is to follow us and view our pictures on Facebook.

Photos should also be available on the Auxiliary website tomorrow.

Pray with us for a safe Girls Nation.
Janet

Good Evening from Girls Nation!!

Well, we just finished our opening convocation. You will never guess who our guest was – the author of the words and music to the Girls State song. Back in 1947, a contest was held to find a theme song for Girls State. Haroldene Heeren ( now Schreck) was a delegate at Nebraska Girls State.She wrote the song, submitted it to National and the rest is history. Haroldene told the girls that over the years she forgot about it until recently when she was cleaning out old papers and found the original manuscript. This prompted her to write to National. The heading on her letter was “I bet who can’t believe I’m still alive.” Well, I knew I wanted her at Girls Nation. The girls loved her! Over the years, Haroldeen became a professional musician, playing piano, mostly jazz. She played the Girls State song like I never heard it!! We all sang and it was wonderful. She autographed about a hundred copies of the Girls State song and will come to Arlington with us tomorrow.

Our keynote speaker was Mary McNaught Yonkman, a Girls Nation alumnus from 2001. Mary talked to the girls about how her experience at Girls Nation helped to shape her life these last nine years. Mary is an incredible young woman who currently works in DC for a non-profit. She is passionate about how returning service men and women need to be appreciated by their communities. After the opening, Mary and the girls gathered for an informal Q & A. Much of the talk centered around college, jobs and service. This fall, Mary starts a new job for a non-profit called The Mission Continues. This organization provides fellowships to returning wounded veterans to find career and education opportunities. What’s cool is that this organization was founded by a Boys Nation alumnus.

The PR staff is kicking me out. They need their sleep. More tomorrow...
Janet

Welcome

Good Afternoon from Girls Nation!

Well, it’s Saturday and we are all ready for the Senators to arrive. The first bus got to the 4H center around 12:30. It is hot and muggy in DC but I’m sure the girls won’t mind. The Public Relations staff has been working hard to assure that pictures and postings are available on the ALA website, Facebook, and blogspot. So, please, check us out all week.

We just unpacked a box of over 110 poppy corsages from the Awareness Assembly. They are so lovely, we decided to give each Senator a poppy corsage at Registration and have them wear the corsages this evening during the opening convocation. We’ll take lots of pictures and post them on all the social networking sites. Thank you to all the units and departments for these beautiful corsages.

Our government staff has been very busy. All the bills have been reviewed and numbered and everything is in place for tomorrows Senate Committee meetings.

They’re predicting sunshine for tomorrow for the wreath-laying and Ecumenical Service at Arlington Cemetery. This is such a beautiful and moving ceremony and one that is always a highlight of the week. Again, pictures should be available on the website and Facebook by Monday.

That’s it for now. More coming tonight.
Janet

Girls Nation 2010

Girls Nation 2010 Begins July 17th be sure to follow the blog to see all the great things that the Senators will be doing during their week in Washington, D.C.