The legislation system can seem difficult and confusing to most adults, so a majority of teenagers don’t even concern themselves with the system. However, students participating in the national Youth in Government (YIG) program have deepened their understanding of law through mock legislature competitions. At Hillcrest, the YIG operation starts with students developing bills in early August. Then, they refine and debate them in the classroom until November. The objective is to create a strong, debatable bill to present at the YIG conference in Columbia. The conference is a large delegation of students from across the state that vote and argue on bills from different schools. If your bill passes the house and the senate, both consisting of students, then the governor will hear your bill and possibly sign it. One example of this is when a bunch of schools came together in an omnibus bill pertaining to texting and driving. Originally, there was a bill that prohibited the use of cell phones in general while driving, but their new bill overrode this, now only prohibiting texting while driving.

The Hillcrest YIG club is run by Mr. Eversole. Eversole promotes individuals to develop their own bills and insists on guiding them in their research, not controlling it. While this is only his second year teaching YIG at Hillcrest, Eversole has made great strides with his students. Specifically, Eversole advocates that the connection of students is an important part of YIG, more so than the bills. 

“Sure you can write [a bill] and try to get it passed. But the more important part is students forming… connections with others. It is always my goal for them to talk about their bill more than worry about getting it passed”.

 – Joshua Eversole 

Eversole offers YIG to any student at Hillcrest willing to participate. The club can be an excellent stepping stone for a career in law or politics. Eversole also claims that with more participation, the program would receive better funding and the school may obtain a Youth in Government class as a replacement for the club. For anyone interested in joining, talk to Eversole or come to the first meeting of the 2023-2024 school year.