Two teens chosen for annual conference




Ryan Hinds

Ryan Hinds


Two local teens were selected to participate in the Triunfo YMCA’s Youth and Government annual Conference on National Affairs at Black Mountain in North Carolina next week.

Ryan Hinds, who will be a senior at Westlake High School in the fall and Sean Richards, who is starting his junior year at Oak Park High School were among just 25 teens out of a pool of 2,200 in California chosen to participate in the highly regarded program.

A total of 500 Youth and Government representatives from throughout the nation participate in the event each year, said Ken Simpson, lead advisor for Triunfo YMCA’s Youth and Government program.

The program teaches teens about all facets of government, Simpson said. The Triunfo program is open to high school sophomores, juniors and seniors in Agoura Hills, Oak Park and Westlake Village.

Students who’ve been chosen to represent their group on a national scale are considered among the smartest, most motivated students in the program, Simpson said.

“I think it was an honor to be chosen,” Hinds said. “I just think that Youth and Government is a great program, and CONA (Council on National Affairs) is an especially great program.”

Hinds has completed his second year of the program, but plans to sign up again during the next school year.

A spokesperson for the program said that Hinds’ strengths lie in his “behind the scenes work-researching and writing thought-provoking bills.”

Richards has only one year of Youth and Government under his belt but proved to be a highly motivated politician in the making.

“Sean has excellent speaking skills that enable him to present bills before the mock Youth and Government Congress,” the spokesperson said.

“I feel really lucky,” Richards said. “I’ve been given the opportunity to really broaden my horizons to see what the rest of the country is like.”

Each delegate to the Conference on National Affairs will present a proposal on an issue of national or international importance. The issues will be debated in one of 18 “first” committees.

Proposals are presented, debated and eventually scored based on importance on a national or international scale, evidence of research, feasibility and the representative’s overall presentation of their proposal.

After scores are tabulated, eight proposals from each first committee move to the second committee. The process is repeated until only 54 of the original 450-plus proposals remain.

The debate and scoring processes are repeated, but “debatability” is added as a fifth ranking criterion, according to the spokesperson. Eventually, seven proposals are sent to the General Assembly to be debated.

Hinds said he will present legislation on replacing state income tax with a national sales tax. Richards will present a proposal to eliminate income tax for minors.

Richards hopes to one day enter the world of politics.

“Politics, in a nutshell, is the world,” Richards said. “Everyone should get involved in it.” Hinds, however, doesn’t see

himself as a professional politician. Although he’d rather work in computer engineering, he believes that all citizens should be involved in government.

“We all need to be involved and make a difference in the world,” Hinds said. “Youth and Government allows you to do that.”

Sean Richards

Sean Richards

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