The American Legion Auxiliary’s Empire Girls State (ALA EGS) program is off and running!!! On Sunday, July 2, 2023 the 278 ALA EGS citizens and 35 staff members came together from all over the great state of New York to embark on one of the best (and hard to explain) learning experiences. Citizens and staff came by bus, car, plane, and train and hugged and kissed their parents goodbye, ready for a fun and exciting week of learning. We may have gotten a little soggy from the rain, but we are ready!

When at ALA EGS, citizens are  separated into 10 counties, all named after famous women in American history: Albright, Angelou, Anthony, Earhart, Ginsburg, O’Connor, Parks, Rankin, Ride, and Tubman. 

After checking in, they got to meet their counselors and fellow citizens in their counties. They settled into their rooms, and started to read about their county’s profiles in the Gold Book. This is an important step of the ALA EGS puzzle as it is the foundation in which the citizens will use to craft the bills and represent their county’s interests in the committees.Working together as a team is so important this week, so ice breakers and getting to know you activities started before citizens got right to work participating in elections and learning how to conduct meetings using parliamentary procedures.

Parli Pro is so much fun when ice cream is involved!

At our ALA EGS Opening Sessions, citizens were introduced to all staff members and are ready to begin this great program and take our ALA Empire Girls State Pledge!

We are ready for an awesome week! Stay tuned for all of the updates!