Archmere Students Participate in Youth in Government Conference

Legislative delegates Ethan Flores ‘26, Shri Narayanan ‘25, Charlie Ramsay ‘25, and  Kellyn Williams ‘26 all created and presented bills that passed through at least one legislative chamber. Their bill topics ranged from providing additional resources to improve standardized testing to adding a sales tax on energy drinks.

Judicial delegates Audrey Curtis ‘27 and Juliana Maceda ‘27 were among the highest-scoring delegates in the judicial competition, earning themselves a spot in the showcase round as student justices. Additionally, judicial delegates Olivia Benson ‘26 and Abigail Leonardo ‘26 earned the Best Petitioner Brief Award, and Benson was also presented with the Best First-Year Delegate Award. The judicial delegates all showed exceptional knowledge of case law and outstanding demeanor when arguing the case, which concerned reproductive privacy and the free exercise of religion regarding contraceptive use.

Delegates Ethan Flores ‘26 and Juliana Maceda ‘27 were also elected to attend national conferences/competitions this summer representing Delaware YIG. Flores will attend the YMCA Conference on National Affairs (CoNA) in Black Mountain, NC; and Maceda will compete in the YMCA National Judicial Competition (NJC) in St. Paul, Minnesota. Olivia Benson ‘26, Kathrine Wang ‘27, and Rebecca Wang ‘26 were also selected as alternates for NJC.

In two years, Archmere Academy has quickly grown into the state’s 2nd largest delegation. Of the 17 delegates, 14 were new to the program this year. Alicia Chu ‘24 served as Archmere’s Youth Delegation Leader and the state’s Chief Justice. The legislative delegates included Madison Bellew, Ethan Flores, Charlie Ramsay, Shri Narayanan, and Kellyn Williams; the press delegates included Mattie Gates; and the judicial delegates included Olivia Benson, Audrey Curtis, Sarah Eastment, Iyanna Flores, Isabelle Kim, Abigail Leonardo, Chloe Li, Juliana Maceda, Kathrine Wang, and Rebecca Wang.

The delegation was led by Archmere’s Learning Specialist Lauren Walton and current Archmere parent Amy Chu, with additional judicial coaching from Delaware attorney and former Archmere parent Kristin Giakas.