A Bit About Arizona Girls State

Purpose of the program

Girls State is a program of education for citizenship. This program is sponsored by the American Legion Auxiliary, open to junior girls in senior high schools. Its purpose is to educate young women in the duties, privileges, rights and responsibilities of American citizenship, in order to help them grasp the meaning of some of the responsibilities which they must assume when they become adults. Girls State is a positive and tangible program in Americanism.

Girls State Program

The Girls State program represents high schools in Arizona. The entire assemblage will become a mythical state and will function according to the laws and procedures of the State of Arizona. These representatives will institute their own city, county and state government by electing their own officers in the manner prescribed by regular election procedures. As duly elected officials they will perform the same duties as real office holders in the everyday world, and observe the problems of government and the demands of an enlightened citizen. The girls will live as self governing citizens with adult supervision during the full period of Girls State. The entire program is nonpartisan. The citizens are divided into two political parties-the Nationalist and the Federalists-which are purely mythical so that the girls may see how political parties, as such, function under our form of government. They will develop their own controversial issues in order to grasp the meaning of governmental problems. Problems are considered without reference to any existing political party. Each girl can be a definite and integral part of Girls State functions.

To learn more about the program please visit their website at https://azgirlsstate.com/