The Montrose chapter of the American Legion Auxiliary sponsored four Montrose High School junior students. These students attended Columbine Girls State at Western State College this summer. Those attendees, now in full swing of their senior year at Montrose High School, are ready to roll.
Sandra Adams, the Girls State advisor for the local chapter, is proud of the opportunities provided by her group and strongly believes we all should learn more about our government. Adams, originally from England, became a U.S. citizen and during her naturalization process took several extensive courses about American government and how this country works.
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understand.”
Girls State is a national program and Columbine Girls State is the Colorado portion of that program which was created in 1937. The impetus of the program is teach the principals of democracy and good citizenship and nearly one million girls have participated. Students selected for the program must be in their junior year of high school. The four selected to attend this summer were: Kaleana Bradburn, Kaitlyn Evanko-Douglas, Celina Figgs and Angelica Toll. Despite the fact it’s only September, the girls are putting their new found knowledge to work and are entrenched in the college application process.
Angelica Toll
Angelica Toll and her family moved to Montrose a couple of years ago from Montana where she attended a small, private school which emphasized history and patriotism.
“I really became interested in our government,” Toll said. “Someday I would like to be involved in politics on the local level and I really want to know what makes our country work.”
Toll hopes to attend Brigham Young University following graduation, because she thinks the school offers a strong academic program.
“I want to major in English,” she said. “I really like to write and I love the campus and the people. I am not Mormon but I think the school is fantastic and the people are very warm and wonderful to be around.”
Toll is a member of the National Honor Society, she plays softball for the Montrose Recreation District, owns a horse and is working with the Pirelli Natural Horsemanship program. She is keeping busy and is already working hard on her college applications.
“Girls State is a great program,” she said. “I learned a lot about how the legislature works. What is really interesting is how different things can be on the state level versus that of the national. We did a mock congress. I was part of the senate. We followed the whole legislative process and it was kind of cool. Actually, I learned quite a lot.”
Celina Figgs
Celina Figgs learned of the Girls State program when her teacher, Dan Tyler, recommended the program to her. Tyler, a member of the American Legion, thought Figgs would be a good fit and would benefit from Girls State.
“If you don’t know how your own government operates then you can’t have an appreciation for it,” she said. “I want to understand what is going on in our country.”
Figgs hopes to attend Adams State College to become an English teacher. She is part of the MHS speech and debate team, STAND (anti-drug and alcohol group), EPYCS (community service group), Choices (an abstinence-based group) and the book club.
“I have been applying for scholarships and doing research since my freshman year,” she said. “I want to be a teacher and Adams State is such a great school for that.”
Figgs said she truly enjoyed the summer program and is using her knowledge in the classroom and in life.
“The best part of Girls State in my opinion was that we had to talk, and I mean talk a lot,” she said. “I think I am finally over my stage fright. We had to get in there and get our jobs done. I met a lot of great people and it really broadened my horizons.”
Kaitlyn Evanko-Douglas
Kaitlyn Evanko-Douglas was nominated for Girls State by a friend who attended the program last year. Government is one of Evanko-Douglas’ areas of interest and she jumped on the chance to learn more.
“I want to go to either DU (University of Denver), CU (University of Colorado) or CSU (Colorado State University),” she said.”I want to study something in the field of political science like public policy or international relations.”
Evanko-Douglas said she would like to be involved in politics some day. Currently, she is gearing up for the start of debate season — which lasts most of the school year. She also works at the Coffee Trader and volunteers for Hospice.
She said she hopes by learning more about the process and procedures of the American government, she will be even stronger in her debates this year. Evanko-Douglas participates in public forum debate which is not as evidence-heavy as other forms but relies heavily on the ability to think fast on your feet and present a strong and concise argument.
“I definitely took something very valuable away from Girls State,” Evanko-Douglas said. “I really learned to appreciate my country and to be more patriotic. However, I also learned that if I don’t like something then how I can make changes rather than just picking up and moving somewhere else.”
Kaleana Bradburn
Kaleana Bradburn first heard about Girls State from her male friends who had attended Boys State — the same democracy-based program offered to male students.
“I thought Girls State would be a good experience for me,” Bradburn said. “I am the first to admit that I knew nothing, absolutely nothing about what goes on with our government. In fact, I was ignorant. That is why I thought participating would be such a good thing for me. It really opened my eyes to how things work and you know what it really helped me to better understand my American government class I am taking.”
Bradburn plans to attend college following graduation this spring. She knows she wants to study art and music but she has not targeted which school she will attend.
“I am really into drawing and painting,” she said. “Ultimately I would like to be a professional singer.” Bradburn is the commanding officer for the MHS Naval Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (NJROTC) unit.
Although she doesn’t want to enter the military, Bradburn feels her Girls State experience was very rewarding and she learned a lot about herself and her country in the process. She said she would definitely recommend the program to any interested girls.
“It is very important to know that when thrown into situations that are new or unfamiliar to go in with an open mind,” she said. “One must not takes these types of lessons for granted and always remember have fun and learn what you can.”
For more information about Girls State, or for girls interested in participating in the 2008 program, contact Sandra Adams at 249-7562.
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