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Girls State week concludes at D&E

The Inter-Mountain photo by Edgar Kelley Family Court Judge Lori Haynes, at podium, swore in the new governor and other elected officials during the American Legion Auxiliary West Virginia Rhododendron Girls State inauguration ceremony at Davis & Elkins College’s Harper-McNeeley Auditorium Friday afternoon.

ELKINS — Participants in the American Legion Auxiliary West Virginia Rhododendron Girls State wrapped up a week-long virtual session Friday with an in-person inauguration ceremony at Davis & Elkins College’s Harper-McNeeley Auditorium.

Rosemary Thomas, Vice President for Enrollment Management and Institutional Advancement at D&E, opened the ceremony with a speech explaining how the program was able to take place.

“We consider it unfortunate that Mountaineer Boys State was canceled this year,” Thomas said. “Two days before we were to meet as the Board of Directors to make the decision on what we would do for Rhododendron Girls State. We took a pause when we learned of the fate of this year’s Mountaineer Boys State session.

“I will give credit where credit is due. A former Girls State girl who happens to be a Board of Education president right now, who happens to be my mother, respectfully said to the ladies who looked at us (at the meeting) and said, ‘these girls have Zoom fatigue, they’re done with virtual, they’re tired of it all.’

“And if we put it out there, what if they don’t come? To which Mary Jo Thomas said, ‘What if they do?’ She said you can take away the virtual as soon as that is humanly possible, but you shouldn’t take away the opportunity before it is.”

Thomas said despite all the hurdles that this year’s group had to clear, they found a way to accomplish what they set out to do.

“All of these young ladies have created bonds that will never be broken,” Thomas said. “They came here today to meet one another in person. They found ways to campaign through social media, through virtual gatherings, through Snapchat, through TikTok, and yes, they even found a way to make fun of me.

“We’ve never faced these circumstances at Girls State. Ladies, COVID may have canceled a lot of things, but we were determined that it would not cancel Rhododendron Girls State.”

The new governor and others winning seats were sworn in by 22nd Family Court Circuit Judge Lori Haynes. The Keynote speaker was Girls State alumna Missy McCollam, coordinator of President’s Initiative on Community and Immersive Learning at D&E, executive director of The Old Brick Playhouse and executive director of The New School OBP.

Those sworn in to Oath of Office include: President of the Senate, Grace Moore; Speaker of the House, Arianna Rectenwald; Commissioner of Agriculture, Molly Mazza; Auditor, Morgan Baker; Treasurer, Emma Grimes; Attorney General, Annisa Molnar; Secretary of State, Julia Leyden; Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Killiam Griffin; Governor, Sidney Megna; Justices of the Supreme Court, Lyndsay Bucklew, Sophia Putnam, Franki Shumate and Paige Van Meter.

Olivia Turman and Maddie Alix were chosen as the two girls who will represent West Virginia Rhododendron Girls State as Senators at Girls Nation 2021 in Washington, D.C.

Those chosen to Rhododendron Girls State are recommended by their high schools based on their interest in government, leadership, character and honesty, scholarship, cooperativeness, community participation, knowledge of parliamentary procedures and demonstration of above average scholastic achievement.

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