Day 2 hit the ground running! Rankin County led this morning’s Flag Raising Ceremony — our first of the week. With yesterday’s heat wave still holding on, we moved it indoors — same respect for the flag, just with air conditioning.

POW/MIA Ceremony

From there, citizens moved into a POW/MIA Ceremony in Edwards Hall. At the front of the room sat a small, solitary table — set for one, and left empty on purpose. It’s a longstanding tradition meant to symbolize the service members missing from our ranks: the prisoners of war and those missing in action that we remember as comrades. It’s a quiet, powerful moment in an otherwise high-energy week, and a reminder of the values of service and sacrifice that underpin the ALA EGS experience.

Speaker Series: Justice Elizabeth Fortino

In the General Session, citizens heard from Justice Elizabeth Fortino, an ALA Empire Girls State alumna and a Justice of the New York State Supreme Court, Fifth Judicial District, serving Oneida County and the surrounding region. She earned her law degree from the University at Buffalo and spent more than two decades as an attorney and Director at the NYS Appellate Division Fourth Department Mental Hygiene Legal Service, advocating for individuals with mental illness and developmental disabilities — work she balanced alongside teaching as an adjunct professor at Utica University, SUNY Polytechnic, and SUNY Oswego.

Justice Fortino spoke candidly about her own career pivots — the leaps she took between advocacy work, teaching, and eventually the bench — and encouraged citizens to take risks and get comfortable stepping outside their comfort zones, just as they’re doing this week at ALA EGS.

“Growth doesn’t happen in comfort.”

Coming from someone who sat exactly where our citizens are sitting now — as an Empire Girls State citizen herself — the message landed. Today’s citizens, tomorrow’s judges, legislators, and leaders.

What Is the ALA?

Following Justice Fortino, ALA Department of New York President Maureen Morgan took the floor to talk about the organization behind the program: “What is the ALA?” — a look at the American Legion Auxiliary’s mission and the community of members who make the ALA the service-minded organization that it is.

Committee Work Begins

Citizens also received their first official guidance from Political Instructors on how to approach committee work. Committees then met to elect their chairs and vice chairs, and citizens got to work identifying issues and drafting the bills they’ll debate later in the week.

Flag Lowering Ceremony

Tonight’s flag lowering ceremony was led by Parks County and included their rendition of The Star-Spangled Banner.

Party Caucuses

The evening brought Party Caucuses, where the Nationalists gathered in Room 100 and the Federalists in Room 103 to elect their State Party Leaders and hear the first Platform Committee and Campaign Committee reports of the week.

Congratulations to our newly elected State Party Leaders:

📰 Girls State Gazette — Issue 2: Becoming Involved Our official daily newsletter covers everything happening inside ALA EGS — election results, legislative action, wellness tips, county news, and more.
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