Fuqua Excels at Model General Assembly

Fuqua School Youth in Government students recently joined students from across the state at the Virginia YMCA sponsored Model General Assembly (MGA) on the Capitol grounds in Richmond. The MGA is designed to introduce high school students to the legislative process of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Fuqua students proposed two bills; one bill passed both houses of the General Assembly and was signed by the youth governor.

Fuqua School senior Whitney Forlines passes the MGA Lieutenant Governor gavel to junior Cali Foster. Whitney is the daughter of Ms. Judy Forlines of Halifax and Mr. David Forlines of South Boston. Cali is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. David Foster of Rice.

The following students represented Fuqua School at MGA 2014: Matthew McKay, Senator; Cali Foster, Senator and Bill Patron; Sommer Frank, Senator Bill Patron; Whitney Forlines, Lieutenant Governor; Kenston Fields, Delegate; Mary Kate Smith, Delegate; Michael Johnson, Delegate and Bill Patron; Buck Wellman, Delegate; Anna Morrow, Delegate; Thomas Watson, Delegate; David Hice, Delegate.

Whitney Forlines served as the 2014 Lieutenant Governor.  She ran debate for three days in the Virginia Senate, where she ensured decorum and enforced the rules on parliamentary procedure.  Whitney also conducted the primary elections for MGA offices for 2015.  Cali Foster was also elected by students from across the Commonwealth to serve as the 2015 Lieutenant Governor. Michael Johnson was defeated in a close race for Attorney General.

At the closing session, Mark Mingee, MGA’s National Affairs coordinator, announced the students that had been invited to attend the Conference on Nation Affairs (CONA) this summer in Black Mountain, NC. For the second year in a row, Fuqua School’s Cali Foster was selected out of 500 students to represent Virginia at the Conference on National Affairs.  CONA is essentially MGA on a national level, having attendees from as many as 35 states. Receiving an invitation to this conference is a high honor for MGA students, as it is given based on exceptional MGA performance.

Mr. Jennings Custis, government teacher and sponsor for Youth in Government at Fuqua School, remarked, “MGA gives high school students an opportunity to experience the world of politics, and they come out with a greater understanding of the legislative process. We are quite proud of our students. This marks the fourth year in a row that Fuqua School has had an elected leader of the House or Senate, and the Lieutenant Governor has been a Fuqua School student for four of the last six years.”