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10/16/2019 08:15 AMWhile many high school students spend the lazy summer months lounging at the beach, earning some extra cash at a seasonal job, or traveling, one Guilford teen spent her summer engaged in a very different activity.
Legislating.
Guilford High School senior Ella Stanley joined a select group of young women as part of the Girls’ State and Girls’ Nation programs, learning the ins and outs of politics and lawmaking first at the state level and then traveling to Washington D.C. to debate issues and pass mock bills with other civics-conscious and ambitious future legislators from all over the country.
“I think it’s such a cool and powerful thing to be able to influence the world, because law is the biggest way you can really just make a big difference,” Stanley said.
The programs are run through the American Legion Auxiliary, a nationwide service organization that supports the American Legion and promotes education and civic activism. Girls’ State and Girls’ Nation have run since 1947, with about 16,000 young women participating every year, according to the organization’s website.
Every summer, each of the 50 states holds its own Girls’ State program, with participants learning the intricacies of their particular state’s legislative process, writing and debating bills, participating in parties and committees, and running political campaigns. Each state then selects two girls based on their aptitude and performance to represent it in a federal version of the same program—Girls’ Nation—which is a much more intense experience, according to Stanley.
“In D.C., we were up until upwards of 11 p.m. debating bills...Girl’s Nation, it was very little free time,” she said.
Stanley has been interested in social justice and has worked in on a handful of civic programs in Guilford, according to her mother, Elizabeth Kozarec, most notably starting a program last year called The Big Sleep Out, which has raised awareness for homelessness by asking people to spend a night on the Guilford Green.
Though Stanley did not have a direct interest in politics, instead tending toward more scientific pursuits academically, Kozarec said that her daughter is the type of person who wants to help and understand the world in more than just one way.
“I think she just as that natural drive toward social justice, but in some way, politically interested...as well,” Kozarec said.
Though the bills are not real at Girls’ Nation and Girls’ State, the issues are. Stanley said she and the other participants were encouraged to take on things they were passionate about, including abortion rights, gun control, climate change, and health care.
“Part of me thought that it was [going to be] more about politicking and using the fancy verbiage,” Stanley said, “trying to get votes and all of that. Part of it definitely was that—I did learn a lot about how to present yourself...but for the most part, it was really amazing to see other girls who just legitimately cared about the issues.”
Though Stanley said the Girls’ State included a variety of opinions and perspectives, hearing the thoughts and perspectives of young women who hailed from places like Alaska, North Carolina, and Colorado was a much more eye-opening experience.
“I think one of the greatest things that I saw is that even though we all were from different sides of the country—there were Republicans, there were Democrats there, there [were] some people there who you could see very clearly [had] completely different views of issues—we all came together and were able to...discuss things in a bipartisan way,” Stanley said.
For the week-long trip, Stanley said the girls all shared dorm rooms, which further encouraged them to learn about each other and find ways to work together. Though writing and passing her bill, which focused on individual ownership of digital content, was something she put a lot of work into, Stanley said these sorts of lessons on cooperation and perspective were perhaps even more so, as she continues to look for ways she can make a difference in her hometown.
“I think that sort of discussion is something I can bring to other people and bring to the other stuff I do, and just taking the opportunity to see that everyone has a great view,” she said.
For more information on the Girls’ State and Girls’ Nation programs, visit www.alaforveterans.org/Programs.