Girls State
Virginia Girls State is a week-long program of the American Legion Auxiliary, the world’s largest women’s patriotic service organization. For nearly a century, the American Legion Auxiliary (ALA) has been serving, helping, and meeting the needs of our nation’s veterans, military, and their families — both here and abroad. The program is focused on governmental affairs and held at a university. Participants must have completed their junior year of high school and have at least one semester of high school remaining to participate. Candidates for Girls and Boys State are selected through an interview process conducted by Post 24. Candidates are evaluated based on their leadership abilities, interest in government, service to others, and academics. Both programs are held in June. All participants are eligible to apply for multiple scholarships and select university/college scholarships.
The American Legion Auxiliary Virginia Girls State is held at Longwod University, There were 276 attendees who formed cities, elected Mayors and other city officials. There were videos and zoom meetings. Some of the notable speakers were the Honorable Ralph Northam, Governor of Virginia, along with other Virginia Government officials. ALA Virginia Girls State Governor and Lt. Governor were elected and sworn in by Virginia Supreme Court Justice Mims. Three scholarships were awarded to 3 Virginia Girls State delegates. The two delegates selected to the ALA Girls Nation Program were Maya Berry and Megan Clinton from the 17th District. Click here for more information and photographs.
About Girls State - Within the Commonwealth of Virginia, for one week each year, a new state comes into being. The physical boundaries of this “state within a state” are the limits of a college campus, but there are no limits to its usefulness in promoting real-life citizenship in Virginia. Girls State provides participants an opportunity to learn, in a few days, the mechanics, objectives, and ideals of democracy. “Learning by doing” is the keynote to the success of this program. For information on applying to Girls State 2021 please click Virginia Girls State Application Process.