The South Carolina YMCA’s Youth in Government recently held its 36th annual model legislature and court conference at the State House in Columbia.

More than 1,400 high school students from across the state participated in the conference held Nov. 5-8. It featured students from 34 high school delegations, including 19 schools located in the Upstate.

SC YMCA Youth in Government, led by the YMCA of Greenville, represents the third-largest program in the country. Mary Capers Bledsoe, executive director of South Carolina Youth in Government at YMCA of Greenville, said the program provides a hands-on learning environment for students to see how the democratic process works firsthand.

“Youth in Government teaches students how to be engaged, responsible citizens and contributing leaders of thei

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