In preparation for the election of next year's government, the current Girls' Government planned two weeks worth of introductions of the candidates, speeches, question and answer periods, debates, and finally, a "moderated" debate last Saturday afternoon for the Presidential and Vice-Presidential candidates in front of all the girls and matrons.
Happy, Leticia, Rose, and Maggie (the "cabinet" members), planned the activities and spent a lot of time preparing for the moderated debate. They came up with ten questions for each candidate, and even strategized on how to press the candidates if their answers were found to be insufficient.
They decorated the dining hall and set up tables for the moderators and candidates. All of the girls attended, and for the most part, paid close attention to the answers. Some of the sample questions were:
"As the Vice-President, what will you do if the President is doing something that you don't think is good, or she is being unfair to some girls?"
"What is the biggest mistake that this year's Girls' Government has made?"
"What has inspired you most about this year's Girls' Government?"
"To you, what is leadership?"
The day after the moderated debate, the annual election was held. Once again, the cabinet took care of all the planning, covering everything from the day/time of the election, to the ballots, rules and procedures, ballot counting, and announcing the results.Each block of dorms had their own voting stations, ballot receptacles, and supervisors. Even the matrons participated in the voting. Like any election around the world, there were lines at the JBFC polling stations with all the girls eager to cast their votes and let their voices be heard.
Positions up for election were: President of Girls Government 2017, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, Health Advisor, Food Supervisor, and Dorm Leaders from 3 dorms (dorm leaders are elected to two-year terms so that only three dorms per year elect new leaders). Some of the positions saw only one girl sign-up for the election, in which case she had to receive at least 24 votes (50%) in order to be elected.
With the ballots cast and counted, we are pleased to announce the JBFC Girls' Government for 2017:
President: Vale
Vice President: Jennifer
Secretary: Zai
Treasurer: Abby
Health Advisor: Dotto
Food Supervisor: Rachel
Dorm A Representative: Reka (also senior advisor)
Dorm B Representative: Shida
Dorm C Representative: Lau
Dorm D Representative: Kulwa J
Dorm E Representative: Justina
Dorm F Representative: TBD
We know all of these girls will do fantastic jobs in their new positions!
