Seneca Valley junior elected state's YMCA youth governor
A Butler County teen recently was elected youth governor of Pennsylvania by 700 of his peers.
Rishin Sharma, a junior at Seneca Valley Senior High School, for the last three years has participated in the Youth and Government club through the Butler YMCA.
The Youth and Government program is part of a national YMCA program that teaches youths, in grades 7 through 12, about how government works and makes them aware of how state issues and social problems are affecting society. In Butler, the club meets every Monday night at the YMCA.
The participants in April went to Harrisburg to take part in a four-day legislative summit. The Butler delegation included 59 students.
The group of more than 700 young people worked on passing bills through committees and a mock House of Representatives. The event also includes an election. After running a campaign, Rishin was elected governor.
Rishin told the crowd at the YMCA's annual dinner Thursday night that he was nervous about public speaking when attending the legislative summit as a freshman, but that year's youth governor encouraged him and helped him give a presentation about a bill in front of 150 people.
“What the YMCA has done with this Youth and Government program is they have created a place for the future generations to become inspired,” he said.
Karen Guise, senior program director with the YMCA, said the program has been growing since its inception in Butler County five years ago. The students learn about politics, but also activism.
“I think it's for kids who want to stand up for something important to them,” Guise said about the students who participate.
Rishin was also selected to travel to Washington, D.C., in July to participate in the YMCA Youth Conference on National Affairs.
